You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. A mischievous little girl and her toy monkey swing irresistibly through the pages of this playful book.

I love some of Gravett's books ( Wolves, Dogs, Meerkat Mail) but most of her simpler books that appear designed for very young children don't do much for me. This affords an opportunity to use different verbs to describe movement and allow the children to predict what animal will follow. Very repetitive in words, yes, but that word work well early readers, as well as getting the kids to chant along with you. the spare, expressive pencil drawings are charming, and the restrained use of watercolor washes heightens their effectiveness.Soon everyone will be waddling like a penguin, jumping like a kangaroo and waving their arm like an elephant’s trunk! Usually, when a child has a long day, she will end up falling fast asleep, even in the most random setting, in this case it is at the kitchen table with a spoon in her hand. Soon everyone will be waddling like a penguin, jumping like a kangaroo and hanging upside down like a bat!

Through the use of ellipses, as the little girl's energy wanes, so does the visual representation of the text. For example, the little girl will say "Monkey and me, Monkey and me, Monkey and me we want to see, we want to see some. I bought this for a trip to the states - to keep our 22 month old entertained on the flight as he loves monkeys. The illustrations depict the little girl dressed in a bright red and white outfit dragging along her stuffed monkey as they go to see all of the different animals.I think that many little kids can relate to having a favorite stuffed animal and imagining themselves going on adventures with it. Emily Gravett is twice winner of the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal and the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Bronze Award for WOLVES and LITTLE MOUSE'S BIG BOOK OF FEARS. Her first picture book WOLVES was published in August 2005 to great acclaim, winning the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal and a clutch of other awards it marked the beginning of a stellar career creating extraordinary books for children. Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett, twice winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal, is a beautifully illustrated story full of animal fun – p erfect for cheeky monkeys everywhere!

Great book for Story Times because of its anticipation for what happens on the next page - simple repetitive text can be sung with any melody and draws everyone to participate by either repeating or singing each word. The second group did not consist of newbies, but they are always significantly smaller and either not responsive or a bit too exuberantly responsive. Young children will love guessing what animal they are pretending to be, before shouting out the answers as the pages are turned to reveal the real creatures. The simple but repetitive language encourages speech development and it is quiet poetic if you ask me.If using this as a lap story, even the youngest of readers can learn directionality by watching the grown-up track the text from left to right, top to bottom. Both the three year old and the six year old were bored by it, and I was very happy to be done with it. The illustrations are cute, but not very colorful or engaging for the youngest picture book audience. I will be interested how long my kids will like this book because it is SO simple it may only hold the attention of a very young reader (under 5 maybe?