Curious George

I feel torn in my review for this book. As a child, I read several of these books, and enjoyed them because as so many children were, I was blissfully unaware of poaching/kidnapping - which is basically what the man in the yellow hat does to George.

There is nothing mentioned of the danger of owning a chimpanzee (was the thing with Travis the chimp really over a decade ago now? Daaaaamn) but then this book was published in the 1940s, which was... really a different time in more ways than one.

So I will refrain from giving this book 1 star out of fairness, but I also would not recommend this as a children's book nowadays, at least not without a serious talk with the child about poaching, the exotic animal trade, et. al.

Curious George is, of course, a mischievous little monkey who gets taken from his home in Africa and brought to live in the big city by the man in the yellow hat. Along the way he gets in many misadventures including falling off a big boat, accidentally calling the fire department and causing them trouble, getting put in jail, getting blown away with a handful of balloons, and finally getting put in the zoo.

This is long for a picture book, but the text is simple and would be a good introduction to indpendent reading for newer readers. I think the characterization of George is what has made these books so popular - he's sweet, naive, often misunderstands or takes things too literally, etc. I think kids identify with him. The show more illustrations are bright, old-fashioned, lovely. I'm pretty sure they were originally done with a limited color palette but have been "colorized" in subsequent reprints?

The story itself is kind of disturbing in retrospect: George is basically kidnapped/poached from Africa by the Man in the Yellow Hat, he's nonsensically "jailed" for calling in a false alarm to the fire department, and finally he ends up in the zoo - you know, trapped in a cage rather than running around free in Africa. This is very different from the Curious George most kids are probably used to seeing via the movies and the PBS show. show less

[a:Maria Tatar|15620|Maria Tatar|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1302120613p2/15620.jpg], in the preface to [b:Off with Their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood|123002|Off with Their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood|Maria Tatar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347437099l/123002._SY75_.jpg|118422], asks whether this is an "exemplary" or a "cautionary" tale. Do children admire & scheme to find ways to emulate the adventures of the monkey, or do they accept the moral lesson to be good & obedient, and to consider consequences, because said lesson is couched in a funny book with bright pictures?

Well, I say, don't underestimate children. I believe that many can hold both show more ideas in their minds simultaneously. Not only do many children surely react to it as *both* exemplary and cautionary, but they may also react to it by thinking "oh, I'll be more careful, I'm smarter than a monkey, I can have adventures without getting caught." They may also react to it by thinking "thank goodness my parents will always love me and not send me to a zoo." (Or, they may think "I wish I could go live in a zoo and not have to do chores or go to school...").

(Btw, these thoughts surely apply to many many other books for children about characters who are curious, or naughty, or who have poor impulse control...) show less

Curious George is a cautionary tale about being too curious. Sometimes blindly following your curiosity can be zany and cute, but sometimes it gets you kidnapped, causes other people problems, costs your friends money to get you out of trouble, and lands you in jail.

This is a children's classic but I find it a little disturbing. There's an undercurrent of misery in the text that doesn't jibe with the smiling monkey in the pictures.

Another delightfully inappropriate children's book, where George is stolen from the jungle, smokes a pipe, and escapes from prison. I love it.

As a child this was one of my favorite books. George's curiosity is responsible for his capture in Africa, and his trouble while staying with the man in the yellow hat. And really, the story is fun. The moral of the danger of curiosity comes through loud and clear. The illustrations are simple and charming. While they are dated the simple illustrations they have come to be recognizable around the world and have lasted over 70 years since they were first introduced in the 1939 book “Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys.” It remains a favorite book of mine and little children all over the world.