2 stars

A cute enough story.

Growing up, I never liked Curious George. It always bugged me that George does naughty things (usually unknowingly), but then never gets in trouble (or worse yet, is rewarded). At least use the situation as a teaching moment. No wonder George is always messing things up. Nobody bothers to teach him why he should or shouldn’t do anything. Clearly, I was a very mature child.

Anyway, this book was okay. I haven’t watched the show, but I’m assuming this comes straight from it. Following the old-school arch of the original George books, George messes up two of his neighbors projects, because they are vague in their speak, then they forgive him (even though he doesn’t apologize or thank them in any way) and don’t bother to teach him what they meant, once again rewarding George in his behavior.

Side note: what is George? They always call him “little monkey”, but he has no tail and the only monkey that doesn’t have a tail is the Barbary Macaque, which George looks nothing like. I’m pretty sure he’s supposed to be a chimpanzee, which is an ape. Small thing, but it’s still annoying we are teaching children that monkeys and apes are the same animals. Clearly, I am overly critical of children’s books, but whatever.

I did like the learning section at the end with suggested building activities. A fun way for kids to learn about building and construction.