Summer of the Monkeys

At the end of the 19th century, Jay Berry Lee lives with his parents and twin sister on a farm in Oklahoma. Money is tight but life is good. Yes, he has farm chores but much of his time is his own, and Jay Berry roams the area with his faithful hound, Rowdy. A railway accident involving a circus train results in a group of monkeys (plus one chimpanzee) escaping into the river bottom near the Lee farm. These are trained circus performers, and the reward motivates Jay Berry to capture the animals so he can finally get the pony and gun he’s longed for.

This was just a delightful boy-and-his dog adventure tale. I loved the relationship between Jay Berry and his grandpa, as well as the way he interacted with his parents and sister. But the show more real joy in the book is the way he goes about trying to capture the monkeys. Every fail-safe idea he has results in some disaster or another, some with rather hilarious consequences. But he’s determined, and his heart is in the right place.

I could not help but think of my father and my brothers while reading this. When growing up we spent many hours in the woods, exploring, “hunting,” fishing and just observing nature. I loved those long days outdoors (and some nights as well). show less

Overflowing with folksy sentimentality, this is my all-time favorite “boy and his dog” story. The dog doesn't die, and the story has a completely happy ending! Things even come out well for the monkeys. Warm loving family interactions and chock full of mild, wholesome adventures, yet it's not boring. Rawls also wrote the more famous (and famously tragic) “Where the Red Fern Grows,” which was originally published in 1961 but whose sales did not “take off” until the early 70's. I've never understood why that book is so much better known than Summer of the Monkeys – I much prefer stories where the dog doesn't die – but there's no accounting for popular taste.

This was published in 1976, and was a family favorite when I was a show more kid. Read this week to my mom as part of our “revisiting the old favorites” project and, despite her rapidly increasing weakness from the cancer, she stayed awake and seemed to enjoy it. Given her condition that's quite a commendation for a book. show less

This was one of several excellent books my 5th grade teacher read to us. Definitely a very "boy" book, but an excellent read for everybody.

This is one of my all-time favorite books. Jay Berry Lee lives with his mother, father, and twin sister, Daisy, in Oklahoma. Jay has a good life, but he wishes for a pony and .22 rifle as any boy does. His mother and father wish for Daisy to have an operation that would fix her twisted leg. One day while searching for the milk cow, Jay finds some monkeys in the river bottoms. He finds out there is a handsome reward for the monkeys and cooks up a plan with his grandpa to catch them. The monkeys turn out to be pretty smart and outwit Jay and his dog, Rowdy, several times. My favorite part is where the monkeys coax Jay into drinking whiskey from a still and he comes home drunk. Jay finally gets the monkeys because of a terrible storm that show more almost kills them. He gets the reward money, but instead of buying his pony and .22, he gives the money to his parents for Daisy's surgery.

This is an awesome book to read to elementary students. Boys and girls alike love this book and it was a must read for my students each year. They can connect to this book and even though it is funny, they can learn from Jay how to handle problems and be more responsible. show less

This is an exquisite story is about a young boy and his family living in the Ozarks. Reading this, with its very vivid descriptions, I was transported to a different time and it brought back all the memories of watching the 'Little House on the Prairie'. It will make you laugh and it will make you cry. Disney has made this into a movie (which I didn't know prior to this, and have not seen), but I promise you, in reading this, you will live every experience as though you were right there: hear the accent, breathe the dust of the Plains, smell the rain, etc. I downright enjoyed this book! A 5-star read for me!

Jay Berry Lee wants a pony and a .22 more than anything in the world. One summer he gets a chance to make the amount of money required to get the pony and the .22. A circus train wrecks, and a car full of monkeys is on the loose in the Ozarks. Jay Berry and his trusty hound, Rowdy decide to take on the monkeys, which turn out to be smarter than they are. Other characters which pepper this book include Jay's sister Daisy who is crippled but can see spirits, Jay's mother and father, and his Grandparents. This book was decent although I feel at certain parts the overall feel was ruined with religion. I mean, did Rawls really need to put in the bible-thump undertone, or could he have just left this book as the simple story of a boy and his show more dog out catching monkeys?I do recommend this book to children though. The story is delightful, and simple. This would be a great book to read out loud. show less

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 show more 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. show less