Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed

PreS-Gr 1—Mama is too tired to read to her five little monkeys, so they decide to spread out their books on their bed and read to themselves. They cry when the books are sad, and cheer at the appropriate moments. In spite of their mother's admonition to turn out the light, they read a ghost story and frighten themselves, and Mama storms in. And so it continues until they finally to go sleep. Children will be amused by Christelow's colorful pen-and-ink cartoons of expressive and active monkeys and her jaunty rhyming couplets. It will also be fun to explore the titles of the books scattered about the monkeys' extra-wide bed in order to anticipate the siblings' reactions for each story. Since the publication of Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (Clarion, 1989), youngsters have enjoyed seven titles in this popular series. They will continue to be delighted, as this time the monkeys turn the tables on their mother at the conclusion of the tale.—Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA