Monkey Business

by Anna Wilson

A side-splittingly chaotic story about schemes, dreams and monkeying around! For Felix and Flo, animals are the number one top priority in life. And although Felix loves his pets (a lazy dog, an angry cat and a noisy hamster), what he really wants is the chance to look after an animal which is exotic and different - like an elephant, or a monkey, for instance. So when he finds out from Flo that you can actually adopt your own animal via the miracle of the internet, he is beside himself with excitement - until he realises that this plan isn't as foolproof as it seems...

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Anna Wilson lives in Bradford on Avon with her husband, two children, two cats, some chickens, some ducks, a tortoise and a dog. She is the author of The Puppy Plan, Pup Idol, Puppy Power, Puppy Party, The Kitten Hunt, Kitten Wars,Kitten Catastrophe, Monkey Business, Monkey Madness, I'm a Chicken, Get Me Out of Here!, the Pooch Parlour series, The Great Kitten Cake Off and The Mortifying Life of Skye Green series - all for Macmillan Children's Books " " " "She has also written Summer's Shadow for older readers.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another book that I had to read for this year's book day at work, I;m about half way through the list now.
Felix is obsessed with animals and so is his best friend Flo. He is always being told off for taking in all sorts of insects and small animals in to the house, but he now wants to think bigger and the pair come up with a crazy idea to get an exotic pet.
As the Synopsis shows, there are a lot of words in capitals. This happens all through the book and I found it really irritating. Now, I know this book is aimed at young children, the main characters are 8/9 years old, but I'm not really sure who would read this, it seems a bit long and there is a lot of information on conservation in there that young children would struggle with, but then it seems too young for the next level of reader. Maybe it's one parents could read to their children.
Felix was a good character, standard excitable little boy with a passion for muck, mess and creepy crawlies. He has a passion for learning about animals and the environment and you can tell he has a good heart, but he does makes some very silly decisions.
Flo, his best friend however was not a nice character. I really didn't like her. She was moody, stroppy, bossy, rude and just plain irritating. She spends all her time telling Felix what to do, or shouting at him, or coming up with stupid ideas then blaming him for it when it goes wrong. When they get in trouble she has no problem throwing him in the deep end. She was spoilt. I didn't like their relationship at all, it was very bossy woman, taking over.
Felix's uncle known as 'Zed' was a bit of comic relief, he is a bit of a hippy, but even this annoyed me after a while, nearly every sentence he spoke included the words, 'dude', 'chill', 'man' etc,
I think this story could be really good for younger children if it was shortened, it just seemed to be repeating bits. The idea of the book was good, but it didn't live up to expectations, maybe I'm just too old for it, and kids will love it, but it just didn't strike a chord with me. Mayeb good for reading a chapter at bedtime with children. Lots of doodles on pages, and only 237 pages which isn't too long.

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite Anna Wilson books. This is about a little boy called Felix, who is very animal-obsessed, and so is his friend, Flora, but he calls her Flo for short. Felix is fed up of having normal boring pets: Colin the cat, and Dyson the dog, and his hamster, and his fish, Jonah, although he got flushed down the toilet by his big brother, Merv. Anyway, Flo and Felix decide that they should adopt an elephant. Will the plan work? Or will Mum find out and go absolutely nuts (which is most scary, because Mum always told Felix off for nothing, in his point of view, so he doesn't even want to think what mum would be like if she found out!)?

This book is really interesting, and I recommend 7+ readers. It is very heart racing, and very FUN. Anna describes things perfectly, and how things happen, and when, and everything fits in. This is one of my favourite books.

I hope that if you are 7 or older and love animal-related stories (Like me), and love adventure, then you read Anna's books. They are amazing, and I'm sure you will love them!

Faye x

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

do not be put off by the stupid 'monkey' on the front (it's an orangutan) this book is hilarious! it is laugh out loud funny and was a highly enjoyable read. (and I read this as a teenager) for monkey fans though, you may be slightly disappointed. the only time monkeys come into play is when the people visit the safari park at the end. (This is a particularly funny part though :D)