A Monkey Among Us

by Dave Horowitz

Illustrations and brief text follow the antics of a mischievous monkey and his animal friends.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Humor, Childrens, Storytime

40 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2004

About the author

My name is dave horowitz. I grew up in Smithtown, New York in the 1970s. Instead of paying attention in school I drew pictures of my teachers. Then I went to a famous art college in Rhode Island and studied coloring.

In 1992 I graduated and went to Oregon to play drums and drink coffee. Then I moved to New York City and worked next door to the Twin Towers. Then I learned how to climb rocks and got fired.

Then I climbed rocks.

I moved up to the Hudson Valley and then to California and then to New Hampshire and then back to the Hudson Valley. Then I got a job as a “professional” rock climber. Then I got too old for that.

I still live in the Hudson Valley where I write and illustrate picture books. Also, I'm a paramedic. So far so good…

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was ADORABLE!

Bright colors, great illustrations - AND A MONKEY!

The story? It's mostly just wordplay - A monkey among a fungus, a monkey humongous

There's also a hippo, a giraffe, and a monster...what?

Don't worry! Horowitz knows his audience and brings it back around to THE MONKEY!

Ah, monkeys. Even though I was once bitten by one, I still love 'em!

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The humor in this one (along with the rhyming text) could work in a preschool group. But it is quite short and I would only consider it as a filler. The shortness had me wanting to use it with the toddler group, since it's harder to find those in the collection. But some of it would be completely lost on them, and some of it just...wouldn't be right. (For example, my very favorite part "The bad giraffe laughs. 'Heh Heh!'" Makes me smile every time!) So with a bit of paper clipping a couple of pages--Voila! A great choice for a toddler book.

4/13/10 & 4/15/10 It worked quite well in both toddler groups. Really grabbed their attention at the monster part. But short easy words, large illustrations, and not too unfamiliar animals seemed to work quite well.

But I do want to read this one aloud to some nieces and nephews (aka brothers and sister). I think they would like my favorite part, too!

3/17/11 With is paper-clipped sections, this story is still a great choice for the toddlers. Both groups loved it. They still didn't get "imposter," but they totally got that the monkey was the monster. Loved it. The limited text on each page also seemed to capture their attention. Perhaps with my larger groups I need to consider even SHORTER toddler books!

10/7/15 That bad giraffe--gets me every time. I used this in literacy moment and had kids, one at a time (and on page span at a time) come up and tell me one of the colors that they saw, then figure out what letter that color starts with, and find the lowercase letter on my board. Lot of "b" color words in that book. :-) They enjoyed it. And everyone got a turn that wanted it--right up to the bad giraffe. So I was able to point out how the giraffe was a troublemaker (theme), and then read the monster part.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book based on the cover art, which was ridiculously adorable. Then I learned the wordplay story inside was a quick read, but a very funny one as well. It's basically about what mischief the little monkey can get into during the course of this short book. I loved not only the cut-paper collages on the inside, but also the monkey drawings on the end pages of the front and back of the book. Recommended for ages 3-6.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, how we loved this book. This is one that I should purchase. When it first came out, we read it countless times to our monkey loving daughter. She was probably two, but could "read" it herself in that cute two-year-old voice. It's a keeper.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for a toddler time! The large, clear pictures were easily recognized by the kids, and the short text made it easy to get through. Also, there are some nice vocab words here, so I could tie it to that Early Lit Skill.

[Bailey Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just bought this book for my 20 month old and she loves it. It's one of our "lunch books." Nice bright pictures and short enough to keep her attention with great rhyming words appropriate for her age. Love it!

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a silly book that features fun word play and colorful, cartoonish illustrations. The narrative is very short and entertaining to read aloud; the words are playful and rhyming. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick read with a surprise ending.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Random. Funny. Rhyming brief text coupled with bold, amusing pictures follow antics of monkey and some animal friends.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple word play book with a monkey, a hippo, a giraffe, and a monster!

Good for toddler storytimes.

[Marguarite Markley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uses brief, but interesting vocabulary. Silly. Good for a read aloud.

[Carol Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, bright illustrations, fun, silly rhyming text that plays on words. Fun for storytime.

[Elizabeth Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bad giraffe...

[Dara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read aloud for toddler.