Monkey and the Little One by Claire Alexander

by Claire Alexander

Monkey lives all alone in the jungle—and he likes it that way. Then Little One, an adorable mouse, appears and turns Monkey's life upside down. Wherever Monkey looks, whatever Monkey does, Little One is there and doing it too! But when Monkey finally succeeds in sending Little One away, he feels . . . lonely! Can he win back his friend?With Claire Alexander's softly hued, tropical artwork and her sibling-friendly message, Monkey and the Little One tenderly teaches children the value of friendship.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Storytime, Childrens, Friendship, Fiction

Paperback

First published May 5, 2015

About the author

Claire was born in Bath, Wiltshire and moved to Kent when she was six. she has always loved drawing from an early age and remembers being asked by her school mates to draw rabbits for them! After school she studied Fine Art at the Kent Institute of Art and Design in Canterbury where she achieved a BA degree in Painting. She moved to London in 1995 and stumbled through many different jobs until she studied children's illustration at Putney School of Art. Here Claire produced her first dummy book for Small Florence, which was then published and started her dream career as an author illustrator.

In 2007 Claire wrote her own course on writing and illustrating picture books which she has been teaching ever since, and now at the House of Illustration. She regularly visits schools and enjoys drawing for children.

Claire's new title 'The Best Bit of Daddy's Day' will be published in June 2016.

'Monkey and the Little One' was shortlisted for the 2015 Junior Design Awards and listed as one of the top ten best new picture books during Independent Book Sellers Week 2015.

'Back to Front and Upside Down' won the 2013 Schneider Family Book Award from the American Libraries Associataion. The award honors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.

'Lucy and the Bully' won the 2009 Paterson Prize for Young People and 'Small Florence' was short listed for the 2010 Mad About Books Stockport Schools' Book Award.

Reviews

[Melanie Coombes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sure got lucky winning this beautiful, hard cover children's book. Not only are the illustrations stunning and colorful, but the message of friendship in the book is meaningful and important to young children. My third grade daughter was so excited to read the book to me tonight. It is a touching story of a monkey who has lived alone and prefers his solitary life. When a small mouse joins him in the jungle, he becomes irritated and chases him away. Only once he is alone, does he realize how much he misses mouse and valued his company.

I can't wait to read this to my first grade class. I would highly recommend this book to young children. I won this thru the Goodreads giveaway.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I appreciate a good book about friendship, I always hate how children's books somehow make it seem like one second your annoyed and the next second you can't live without that person. Doesn't seem like a lesson that would fully translate to a situation with a child. This is not an exclusive thought to this particular book but a lot of friendship books in general.

[Caroline Herfindahl]

The story and illustrations in Claire Alexander's Monkey and Little One will melt your heart. Monkey just wants to be alone and isn't sure what to do when "Little One" comes along. Little One doesn't speak Monkey and Monkey doesn't speak mouse. Will they end up friends?

[Heidi Whurr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet little story about friendship coming when you least expect it and hope it has a permanent, life changing effect on you. It is lovely, although perhaps a little bit too twee in parts, with the flowers and everything. My 4 year old enjoyed it and so did i.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about friendship....when you didn't realize you needed/wanted one.

[Tracy Mabry · Rating 5 out of 5]

So precious! Beautiful illustrations.
New friends, friendship, unlikely friendship, sharing, acceptance.

[Nele Handwerker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erst ist das Äffchen von der kleinen Maus genervt, doch dann vermisst es sie. Wie man sich ins Herz einmogeln kann.

[Irina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can be used for 2 different purposes. One is when you are talking about friendship and how friends come into your life and change it and even though you think you liked things the way they used to be you realize that life is better with a friend. Another way you can use this book is if your son or daughter is getting a baby brother or sister. This would also be a great present for someone having a 2nd baby. It can be used to read to the older child about how a baby will change their life but ultimately for the better.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like this was just a rehash of the stupid A Visitor for Bear from 2008. Nothing special at all. Also, it's another book that uses the dumb different typeface thing - newsflash: an exclamation point conveys emotion and intensity; there is no need to use larger font size and bold weight as well.

[Bmack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little One is a mouse who doesn't speak "monkey" but wants to be Monkey's friend. She does everything she can to make that happen until Monkey gets mad at her and she leaves. Is Monkey happy about this? Will he ever see Little One again? This book has great illustrations and a very sweet theme of friendship.

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a First Reads giveaway. What a delightful book. I plan to donate it to our church library so that many children will be able to read this book. I like the story because it is fun to read, but it also gives children a lesson.

[Juliana Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes it’s hard to make new friends. Sometimes it’s not so hard. You just have to be open to the possibility of friendship and the differences friends might have.
http://julianaleewriter.com/books-ali...

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why is the annoying creature in these kinds of stories always a mouse? Why not a squirrel, or a mole, or a caterpillar? I feel like mice really have it rough in picture books.

The pictures in this one are beautiful.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Visitor for Bear is a much better book that tells the exact same story.

[James Koppert · Rating 5 out of 5]

a truly beautiful children's book. Magical

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and a strong message of friendship. Another great addition to our character education text set. Mrs. Richards will have to get this one for the book room!

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little story about friendship.