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Howard B. Wigglebottom
Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Monkey on His Back: A Tale About Telling the Truth
LISTEN BETTER to the little voice in your head, your intuition. Lying is wrong. Award-winning…educator endorsed. FREE download discussion ideas, poster, video, song and interactive questions. www.wedolisten.org The We Do Listen Foundation is helping millions of children listen better to others, their hearts, feelings, bodies, and to intuition, the little voice in the head. 15 Howard B. Wigglebottom books, animations, songs and lessons help ages 4-7 become better listeners, learn important life lessons and feel good about themselves. No one ever gets in trouble for too much listening. Have a good listening day or the day of your choice.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2010
3 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 1, 2017
Good discussion book about why we lie, how it makes us feel, consequences for lying, and how to repair relationships after we do.
March 8, 2019
Probably better for older readers. Little ones understand the tell the truth part but not the monkey so much lol
February 26, 2012
ToriPeterson
Posted February 26, 2012
more from this reviewer
Telling The Truth Is Cool
Lying is common among young children, and unfortunately in today's world lies are flung from all directions. This tends to set a bad example and can make telling the truth harder for the children. Children can tell lies for various reasons from jealousy, fear of getting into trouble, to get out of doing something, etc. But telling lies will only make us feel worse. That's why it's good to talk to our children about telling the truth.
Lying feels like such a burden. One lie has to turn into more, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Before you know it your feeling weighed down inside and out.
That's exactly how Howard B. Wigglebottom feels in this book. Howard finds himself in various situations where he feels that lying is the best option. Unfortunately for Howard with every lie he tells the monkey on his back grows and grows. Before he knows it he is so weighed down that he can't stand it. He decides the best thing to do is tell the truth and with every truth told the monkey gets smaller and smaller. Once Howard comes clean he feels so happy, and truly learns his lesson about telling the truth. Telling the truth not only makes us feel better about ourselves, but others trust in us more. It creates a better life as a whole, and this is something that we need to be teaching our children. Thankfully Howard B. Wigglebottom is here to help with that.
This is a great learning book for young children. Not only is it instrumental in teaching a valuable lesson about telling the truth, but it's entertaining and the illustrations are wonderfully done. The Howard B. Wigglebottom books have everything you need to not only keep your children intrigued in the story, but teaching them a valuable life lesson at the same time. Howard B. Wigglebottom is a great role model.
This is a great book to read alone to your children, or even for a teacher to read aloud to a class. Finally a book that is entertaining while teaching our future generations important life lessons along the way!
I am also doing a giveaway on my blog for the chance to win your own Howard B. Wigglebottom book! Just CLICK HERE TO ENTER
Posted February 26, 2012
more from this reviewer
Telling The Truth Is Cool
Lying is common among young children, and unfortunately in today's world lies are flung from all directions. This tends to set a bad example and can make telling the truth harder for the children. Children can tell lies for various reasons from jealousy, fear of getting into trouble, to get out of doing something, etc. But telling lies will only make us feel worse. That's why it's good to talk to our children about telling the truth.
Lying feels like such a burden. One lie has to turn into more, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Before you know it your feeling weighed down inside and out.
That's exactly how Howard B. Wigglebottom feels in this book. Howard finds himself in various situations where he feels that lying is the best option. Unfortunately for Howard with every lie he tells the monkey on his back grows and grows. Before he knows it he is so weighed down that he can't stand it. He decides the best thing to do is tell the truth and with every truth told the monkey gets smaller and smaller. Once Howard comes clean he feels so happy, and truly learns his lesson about telling the truth. Telling the truth not only makes us feel better about ourselves, but others trust in us more. It creates a better life as a whole, and this is something that we need to be teaching our children. Thankfully Howard B. Wigglebottom is here to help with that.
This is a great learning book for young children. Not only is it instrumental in teaching a valuable lesson about telling the truth, but it's entertaining and the illustrations are wonderfully done. The Howard B. Wigglebottom books have everything you need to not only keep your children intrigued in the story, but teaching them a valuable life lesson at the same time. Howard B. Wigglebottom is a great role model.
This is a great book to read alone to your children, or even for a teacher to read aloud to a class. Finally a book that is entertaining while teaching our future generations important life lessons along the way!
I am also doing a giveaway on my blog for the chance to win your own Howard B. Wigglebottom book! Just CLICK HERE TO ENTER
December 9, 2014
This book explores the different kinds of lies we may tell, a lie to protect someone, lies when we don't want to do something, lies for selfish reasons and overall, the habit of lieing.
I love the illustration of a monkey on Howard's back, the feeling of uneasiness that grows with every lie.
I appreciate the father's response as well, silent and sad, when he knows Howard isn't telling the truth.
Howard finally chooses the 'right' choice and tells everyone how he has not been truth telling lately. His family responds with kindness and the monkey poof! disappears. The association of the monkey with feeling uneasy and then feeling much better after telling the truth is a priceless lesson.
There is something missing from the process described in the book however, which is creating the environment for telling the truth. It's much harder for anyone to admit to a lie when there are yelling adults around. Often, the adults can take care, take some extra time to check in with their children and see if there is anything bothering them, if there's something they don't want to do by paying attention to their behaviour before it becomes out of hand.
I do advocate for authenticity and the habit of truth telling but I see that the responsibility is up to more than just the children. It's not a 'kids these days' approach rather, a look at the whole picture and everyone taking responsibility. Often kids are only taking lead from the adults in their lives and so in order to have our kids tell the truth, we must ask ourselves if we are telling the truth as well.
Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Monkey On His Back is a great start to much a richer, deeper discussion and look at what goes into telling the truth. How often do the adults make a list of all the people they must apologize too as is suggested Howard do in this book? Let's make sure we are willing to do what we are asking of our children.
Authenticity and truth telling is an inside job, one that takes courage. If our children are not telling the truth, perhaps we can work on building their courage and self esteem for lasting habitual truth telling. And when our children tell us the truth, such as a sport they do not wish to play anymore, lets honour them so they know that the truth about themselves matters.
This book is great but only scratches the surface.
I love the illustration of a monkey on Howard's back, the feeling of uneasiness that grows with every lie.
I appreciate the father's response as well, silent and sad, when he knows Howard isn't telling the truth.
Howard finally chooses the 'right' choice and tells everyone how he has not been truth telling lately. His family responds with kindness and the monkey poof! disappears. The association of the monkey with feeling uneasy and then feeling much better after telling the truth is a priceless lesson.
There is something missing from the process described in the book however, which is creating the environment for telling the truth. It's much harder for anyone to admit to a lie when there are yelling adults around. Often, the adults can take care, take some extra time to check in with their children and see if there is anything bothering them, if there's something they don't want to do by paying attention to their behaviour before it becomes out of hand.
I do advocate for authenticity and the habit of truth telling but I see that the responsibility is up to more than just the children. It's not a 'kids these days' approach rather, a look at the whole picture and everyone taking responsibility. Often kids are only taking lead from the adults in their lives and so in order to have our kids tell the truth, we must ask ourselves if we are telling the truth as well.
Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Monkey On His Back is a great start to much a richer, deeper discussion and look at what goes into telling the truth. How often do the adults make a list of all the people they must apologize too as is suggested Howard do in this book? Let's make sure we are willing to do what we are asking of our children.
Authenticity and truth telling is an inside job, one that takes courage. If our children are not telling the truth, perhaps we can work on building their courage and self esteem for lasting habitual truth telling. And when our children tell us the truth, such as a sport they do not wish to play anymore, lets honour them so they know that the truth about themselves matters.
This book is great but only scratches the surface.
November 15, 2011
Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Monkey on His Back: A Tale About Telling the Truth is a Children's Picture Book.
Howard begins his day at school with show and tell and when his pet mouse escapes into the classroom, Howard lies to his teacher and makes a bad choice.
Throughout the story Howard makes the wrong choice and lies to his friends and family. When Howard lies to his father about finding money in the "money chair", a monkey grows on Howards back.
As Howard's guilt and the monkey continue to grow, Howard must decide if he should make the right choice and apologize for all his wrongdoings.
The We Do Listen Foundation
I thought this book has a wonderful message and it is told in a charming and delightful way that any child can understand. I loved how at the end of each lie you were made to realize that Howard made the wrong choice and then reinforced it when he makes the correct choice.
I loved the moral teaching the book's lesson has to share. I loved how the conflict was resolved and shared and thought that Howard's father steered him in the proper direction.
I loved the illustrations by Susan F. Cornelison. They are depicted in a pastel like effect that is delightful to the eyes. The edges are soft and the characters are each depicted with their own characteristics. I really loved Spidey Bunny, he was really cute and my children were delighted to see him included in the story.
As my kids read the pages, first I read it then my son read it, we discussed lying and the rights and wrongs and how it can hurt. I loved the discussion and thought-provoking aspects in brought out in us.
I would give Howard B. Wigglebottom and The Monkey On His Back a five out of five stars. I would recommend this for any home and libraries should definitely keep them on their shelves, the messages and the characters are endearing and child friendly.
Howard begins his day at school with show and tell and when his pet mouse escapes into the classroom, Howard lies to his teacher and makes a bad choice.
Throughout the story Howard makes the wrong choice and lies to his friends and family. When Howard lies to his father about finding money in the "money chair", a monkey grows on Howards back.
As Howard's guilt and the monkey continue to grow, Howard must decide if he should make the right choice and apologize for all his wrongdoings.
The We Do Listen Foundation
I thought this book has a wonderful message and it is told in a charming and delightful way that any child can understand. I loved how at the end of each lie you were made to realize that Howard made the wrong choice and then reinforced it when he makes the correct choice.
I loved the moral teaching the book's lesson has to share. I loved how the conflict was resolved and shared and thought that Howard's father steered him in the proper direction.
I loved the illustrations by Susan F. Cornelison. They are depicted in a pastel like effect that is delightful to the eyes. The edges are soft and the characters are each depicted with their own characteristics. I really loved Spidey Bunny, he was really cute and my children were delighted to see him included in the story.
As my kids read the pages, first I read it then my son read it, we discussed lying and the rights and wrongs and how it can hurt. I loved the discussion and thought-provoking aspects in brought out in us.
I would give Howard B. Wigglebottom and The Monkey On His Back a five out of five stars. I would recommend this for any home and libraries should definitely keep them on their shelves, the messages and the characters are endearing and child friendly.
April 7, 2011
Howard the bunny makes the wrong choices and lies to keep himself and his friends out of trouble. However, lying makes Howard feel like there is a big monkey on his back and with every lie he tells, the monkey gets bigger and BIGGER! Howard finally decided to listen to the little voice in his head -his conscience- and tell the truth; 'Howard made the right choice' and felt better that people trusted him. The back of the book offers suggestions and lessons for reflections from the text.
April 17, 2012
Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Monkey on His Back: A Tale About Telling the Truth was a great conversation starter for a discussion on lying. It was good for my 5 and 6 year old daughters to read a book and understand the effects of lying. They understood completely the message of the book. I will be purchasing other books in the Wigglebottom series because the lessons learned and explained at their level is definitely worth the money!
April 14, 2012
Finally, I've learned what it means to "have a monkey" on your back! Howard decides to tell the truth in the end, but his angst up until that point wasn't real to me. Still, the questions to ask your children in the back of the book were helpful to a discussion about telling the truth and why it is important.
April 9, 2012
I read this story aloud to my kids. We loved the pictures, very colorful. My daughter told me that she doesn't lie because she doesn't want to carry a monkey on her back.... he would be too heavy. I always ask my kids to tell me the truth the first time and so far so good, with a few slip ups ;-0
February 3, 2016
Howard B Wigglebottom the Rabbit books have all been great to help teach children some life lessons of which Howard it going through too. In this one he learns about lying. And how it affects everyone around you. And how to 'fix' it.
March 4, 2013
Cute story for preschool or kindergarten about telling the truth. Discussion points listed at the end.
September 28, 2013
A great story to teach small children the trouble with lying.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews