This is probably one of my most favorite books from my childhood. I loved it and I read it over and over again. It's better than "[b:Where the Red Fern Grows|10365|Where the Red Fern Grows|Wilson Rawls|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166154337s/10365.jpg|115]." When Disney came out with a film adaptation, I was thrilled. ( )

This Historical Fiction children’s novel, set in Oklahoma’s Cherokee Ozark Mountains in the late 1800s, tells the story of fourteen-year-old Jay Berry Lee. A typical country boy, Jay Berry learns from his grandfather that a circus train has overturned and is missing a slew of monkeys. The reward, $2 per monkey and $100 for the largest of the bunch, sets Jay Berry on a mission to capture them all and claim the reward, which will allow him to make his dream purchases of a pony and a .22. With the help of his grandfather, Jay Berry and his hound dog, Rowdy, spend the summer matching wits against the crafty monkeys. Jay Berry learns many life lessons along the way, and his unselfish acts end up with a reward he never could have imagined while he plotted to capture those pesky monkeys.

This book is one of my favorites. I first heard the story during 6th grade, when my teacher read a chapter each day to the class. I’m originally from Northeastern Oklahoma, and we used to take float trips down the Illinois River and roam around Tahlequah’s countryside all the time. Reading about these familiar places and picturing how they must have looked so long ago made this book extra special for me to revisit.

In the classroom I would use this book along with a unit on Oklahoma history. We could discuss the typical life of an Oklahoma farm family, modes of transportation, and the trading for goods and service, among other things. It would also be fun to have a contest where each student (or group of students) comes up with a unique way to trap the monkeys and bring them up out of the bottoms. The kids could present their ideas to the class, and then everyone could vote on the most original and creative ideas. In addition, I could incorporate a geography and map lesson by having the students measure distances from various locations in Oklahoma on a map and calculate how long it would take to travel the distance by wagon, horseback, train, and car. ( )

By the author of Where the Red Fern Grows, this story is good summer reading.

2882 Summer of the Monkeys, by Wilson Rawls (read 29 Jun 1996) Ever since I was entranced by the author's great book Where the Red Fern Grows I wanted to read something else by him. This is not as good a book--a bunch of monkeys a boy tries to catch in Oklahoma leads to his finally getting them. Much of the simple story (it is for "age 10 and up") was a chore to read, but simple old me was emotionally over wrought at the end of the book anyway. Simple, touching--a good book for boys to read, but it is not really necessary that I read more like it. ( )

I loved this book! Read aloud to 5th grade class. ( )