Curious George Learns the Alphabet

Curious George Original Adventures #6

by Margret Rey, H.A. Rey

Readers learn the alphabet along with George as the man in the yellow hat teaches the curious monkey how to read.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Animals, School, Juvenile

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Margret Elizabeth Rey (May 16, 1906 – December 21, 1996), born Margarete Elisabeth Waldstein, was (with her husband H. A. Rey), the co-author and illustrator of children's books, best known for their Curious George

Although she was born in Germany, she fled to Brazil early in her life to escape Nazism. While there, she met her future husband Hans (who was a salesman and also from Germany). They married in 1935 and moved to Paris, France that same year.

While in Paris, Hans's animal drawings came to the attention of French publisher, who commissioned him to write a children's book. The result, Rafi and the Nine Monkeys, is little remembered today, but one of its characters, an adorably impish monkey named Curious George, was such a success that the couple considered writing a book just about him. Their work was interrupted with the outbreak of World War II. As Jews, the Reys decided to flee Paris before the Nazis seized the city. Hans built two bicycles, and they fled Paris just a few hours before it fell. Among the meager possessions they brought with them was the illustrated manuscript of Curious George.

The Reys' odyssey brought them to the Spanish border, where they bought train tickets to Lisbon. From there they returned to Brazil, where they had met five years earlier, but this time they continued to New York, New York. The books were published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941, though certain changes had to be introduced because of the technology of the time. Hans and Margret originally planned to use watercolors to illustrate the books, but since they were responsible for the color separation, he changed these to the cartoon-like images that continue to feature in each of the books. (A collector's edition with the original watercolors was recently released.)

Curious George was an instant success, and the Reys were commissioned to write more adventures of the mischievous monkey and his friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. They wrote seven stories in all, with Hans mainly doing the illustrations and Margret working mostly on the stories, though they both admitted to sharing the work and cooperating fully in every stage of development. At first, however, Margret's name was left off the cover, ostensibly because there was a glut of women already writing children's fiction. In later editions, this was corrected, and Margret now receives full credit for her role in developing the stories.

Margret and her husband moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, in a house close to Harvard Square. Following her husband's death in 1977, Margret continued writing, and in 1979, became a Professor of Creative Writing at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Starting in 1980, she also began to collaborate with Alan Shalleck on a series of short films featuring Curious George and more than two dozen additional books.

In 1989 Margret Rey established the Curious George Foundation to help creative children and prevent cruelty to animals. In 1996, she made major donations to the Boston Public Library and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She was also a long-time supporter of the Longy School of Music. The Reys spent twenty summers in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, to enable H.A. Rey to better observe the stars for his astronomy writing. They became an integral part of the Waterville community and their legacy is honored by The Margret and H.A. Rey Center and the Curious George Cottage located there.

Dr. Lena Y. de Grummond, a professor in the field of library science (specializing in children's literature) at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss. contacted the Reys in 1966 about the university's new children's literature collection. H.A. and Margret made a donation of a pair of sketches at the time. In 1996, after Margret's death, it was revealed in her will that the entire literary estate of the Reys were to be donated to the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at Southern Miss.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s nothing like teaching the building blocks of reading to a young one, even if he is a monkey. In this story, George learns his letters, as well as things in the world that resemble their shape. With these letters comes words, which will open a world of stories and adventures. Each letter receives a little blurb and George is soon creating a means of communication that he will never forget. Neo was quite pleased to read this story with me, as it helped him see that others (George) can excel with the knowledge of letters and is soon spelling words. Neo’s passion for reading keeps growing and he is eager to tackle more books. Look for him to keep making an impact here for years to come!

[Gary Sundell · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I was a kid learning the alphabet this would be great. As an adult, not so much.

[Shawn Fairweather · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son from birth has always been surrounded with Curious George. Today at the ripe old age of 3 he travels everywhere with his stuffed George doll, and morning cuddle time he is a mainstay. He loves the cartoons on PBS as well. For me, I remember as a kid going to my ped. for Dr. appts, always looking for a certain George book, (George Goes to the Hospital) for the waiting room. Luckily it was always available in the waiting room. A couple years ago I found a beautiful hardcover boxset at B&N that I thought would make a great Xmas gift for my son, and it included the Hospital book along with this one. The gift was a smash hit. The stories tend to be a bit on the long side by todays standards, but they are highly enjoyable to read for bedtime story telling.

Beautiful artwork, well written stories in a classic sense. Wording that always follows the pictures as well as now my son can relay the stories to me by both memory and picture guidance. You can't go wrong here. The simplicity and innocense of the time period when written is highly apparent which for me I want for my son. Life lessons will come, but right now I want him to enjoy his time of playfulness and George helps him do so.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sixth installment of the Curious George saga is Curious George Learns the Alphabet, a book which somehow manages simultaneously to be mind-numbingly boring and infuriatingly off-the-wall. H.A. Rey is back on writing duties in this book.

In this adventure, the poacher grows frustrated with George tearing up his books and decides to teach the monkey to read and write. And he succeeds!

That's pretty much it. The book goes letter by letter, using illustrations to demonstrate both what the letter looks like and things that start with that letter. Except it doesn't really work because it will declare something like, "The big A is an alligator!," then superimpose a capital A over an alligator's mouth. Many of these letters are a real stretch, such as "The big P is a penguin! The little p is a little penguin!"

Going through 52 of such exercises is incredibly repetitive, and the book even acknowledges this by having the poacher interrupt every so often to allow George to write, have a snack, take a nap, or in one bizarre interlude, practice football plays. Apparently, not content with a bike-riding, move star space-monkey, the poacher is trying to get him into professional sports. I guess all those houses and helicopters and convertibles aren't going to just pay for themselves.

The poacher is incredibly bossy and demanding in this one, though George ultimately does learn to read and write, which is incredible, really. He then uses his newfound skills to deceive an profoundly stupid baker into giving him 108 extra doughnuts.

Interesting Detail #1: During either letter R or letter B, I can't recall which, we are told that "George had a [bunny/rabbit]" (emphasis mine), a reference to Bill's ill-advised gift to George at the end of the previous book. Note the past tense. George no longer has this rabbit. Why not? We are not told. But given the poacher's utter negligence and irresponsible behavior, coupled with the fact that a wild animal should not be put in charge of caring for a small bunny, I think it is fair to assume the worst.

Interesting Detail #2: Letter J is a jaguar. We are informed by the narrator that George knew a jaguar back when he lived in the jungle. Jaguars are indigenous to the Americas, primarily the rain forests of South America. George, as we all know, is from Africa. Hmm. . . . Perhaps he studied abroad at some point before the poacher kidnapped him? Who knows?

This is not a good book. This is not a good book for learning the alphabet. Don't waste your time.

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my very first intro into Curious George curios that are gorgeous! Here the world's most lovable monkey munchkin of mischief is learning the ABCs from his BFF, the man in the yellow hat, portrayed so badly by Will Ferrell in the animated film. Mr Yellow Hat uses pictures made into the shapes of capital and lowercase letters of the alphabet, and it's a lotta fun. George even uses what he's learned by innocently rewriting Yellow Hat's note to get One Dozen Donuts, replacing ONE DOZEN with TEN DOZEN! George, dude! Even cops on TV shows like TJ Hooker don't scarf as much donuts!!! H A Rey even bows to Darwinism a bit when his Big E and Little E are made into ears, with Big E for the man's ears, and little e for the ears of the monkey, to show how humans and monkeys really are more alike than we've been taught in Christianity. Thus, he who has ears to hear, better listen with your heart to better than what crap the Bible tells you. Okay, that was too rough. Anyway, it'll do you and your kids a lot of good to read as much Curious George as possible. It is from H A' heart, and a REY OF LIGHT to shine inside...you.
Five stars
George is as awesome as ABC!

[Sarah]

This book has more words, so it is for a child with a longer attention span, around age 3-5 years old. This book is based on the premise of the Man with the Yellow Hat teaching George (the monkey) the letters of the alphabet. It is a good story that starts with the monkey tearing the pages of a book, which leads the man to teach George. About halfway through the man gives George a note to bring to the bakery to get ONE dozen doughnuts, and George has learned to write the word TEN from the letters he has learned. The monkey makes mistakes and the man is always understanding, which is nice for children to see that sometimes others make mistakes and it is okay.
Younger children could take a 'picture walk' with a supervising adult since it is not a board book. There are engaging pictures of the alphabet in the form of animals and objects, and the child could trace the letters with their finger while the adult reads the letter and says the name of the corresponding picture. Each page is full of words that start with that letter and they are highlighted. The older child who is able to match the letters can be asked to do so, each time repeating the letter to build up letter awareness.

[Le Maistre Chat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Curious George gets curious about what the black marks in books are, so the Man in the Yellow Hat teaches him the alphabet.
52 pages of this book, so almost all of them, are taken up by the capital and lowercase letters of the Latin alphabet with extra parts drawn onto them to make mnemonic pictures of objects that start with that letter (Alligator and apple, etc). So it's pretty plotless and boring. It also seems like misleading pedagogy, as English orthography does not use the alphabet phonetically (and cannot, as there are 44 phonemes we have to map to only 26 letters). So how is George supposed to learn to read ONE as the numeral pronounced "wun" in spoken English (as he does to read a letter to the bakery in the one bit of mischief plot we get), instead of sounding out "o-neh" or "oh-nee" and asking the Man in the Yellow Hat what word that is?
I'd give it 1 star, but my 2-year-old requests it. I suppose we can revisit this rating in a few years if it turns out to have more value for a young learner than I thought.

[Jolie Hamer-Conroy · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK if the child already has an understanding of the alphabet. This book highlights all of the letters of the alphabet, referring to "Big A" and "Small A", etc. Illustrations show each letter incorporated into a picture. For instance, the big A is drawn as an alligator's mouth.

A few things to consider, though. The book is quite lengthy, so if you are reading to a very small child who is just learning the alphabet, it may be a hard sell. There are also some rather complicated and/or confusing words in it. Xmas is used for the letter X. I think that a better "X word" could be used, than Xmas. Also there are words like "dromedary" and "nuisance," which would be difficult for a young child.

One additional concern is the outdated references to George "playing Indian."

I give three stars because of the paragraphs explaining how letters sound, but really, I recommend this book with reservations.

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Curious George Learn the Alphabet," is a great way to introduce the basics of the alphabet to young readers. We follow Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat about learning the alphabet and applying the letters to words that start with the letter or contain the letter said. We also see George apply his knowledge to spell words.

This book has an enhanced interaction structure to the book. This book focuses more on the words but the pictures are able to give an extra relationship to the letters that are shown. Usually, the letters introduced are seen somewhere in the image. For example, the letter "p" is made to look like a penguin. I think this book is for a more advanced young reader. It is wordy and the storyline doesn't necessarily contribute to educating the reader on the alphabet. This might be something that you can read in many different parts rather than in one sitting.

[Lain Lucas]

This book is about a monkey. George is the monkey’s name; however, he has donned the nickname curious George due to his desire to find out about everything. In the book, George wants to learn about the alphabet, so he does.

Curious George was one of my favorite shows to watch as a kid. I didn’t discover there were books until I was around fifteen years old. The illustrations give me a sense of nostalgia.

This book would be perfect for kindergarten or first graders. As the book is being read for the first time, I could have them intently listen. The second time, I could pass out alphabet sheets and when they hear a phrase such as, “A becomes an Alligator,” they could trace the letter and then write the letter on their own beside it. This would be done for all twenty six letters of the alphabet.

[Meghann Sniffen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awards the book has received (if any): none
Appropriate grade level(s): pre-k through first
Original 3-line summary: Curious George wants to learn how to read and so the man in the yellow hat has to teach him. They go throughout their day and the man in the yellow hate shows George the relation between words and letters.
Original 3-line review: I like that this book isn't just your normal alphabet book telling you the alphabet and giving an example. The book has a story behind it and kind of shows how a parent can go through the day and show their kids the connections between real word and words.
2-3 possible in-class uses:- showing the correspondence between letters and words/ real life connections
- teaching children how other "people" learn the alphabet

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband learned to read on Curious George books on audio with the actual book. So of course we wanted to introduce our children to the famous books. The books before the cartoon is shown in my opinion. I really enjoy this book of Curious George as it is the monkey learning the alphabet just like most readers at this age are. They are all learning to read and learning to recognize the letters. Cassie's favorite part is when the monkey works really hard at learning. She loved the illustrations as they are bright and colorful and really draw the eyes to them. I highly recommend checking out this book.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fun part of this book is that when the man in the yellow hat decides to teach George the alphabet, he creatively draws each capital and small letter into an object or animal that begins with that letter, which can be a really great memory device to help preschoolers recall letters. What I didn't love was that every few letters, the man and George begin to put the letters together to make words, but would include more difficult concepts that weren't covered and really shouldn't be covered yet, like vowel teams and silent-e.

[Amara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Curious George's ABCs. This one is too advanced, unless they already have a grasp on ABCs already. It includes capital and lowercase letters. But also, the word "nuisance". I think that's a bit much for an ABC book.

[Brad McClaugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is entertaining and an easy reader for beginning readers like all Curious George books. It starts with George looking at a book puzzled, then the man in the yellow hat coming to help. He tells George he has to learn his letters first before he can read it. They go from A-Z with the man drawing the letters for George, then going over a few words that start with that particular letter.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't like all the Curious George stories but this one kept my toddler in pretty rapt attention, as he excitedly pointed out the letters he recognized. The animals to illustrate the letters were ok, but not super exciting. The beginnings of putting together the letters to form words was neat to see though. We'll probably reread this one a few times.

[James]

A favourite among the already extremely well-liked Curious George series, this instalment works pretty well as a standalone story but definitely do not use it as a way to teach phonics - it works as an introduction to the order of the alphabet and as a way to match certain phonemes to pictures but it is definitely a product of its time.

[Jeff Mayo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sixth book in the series was written by married couple H.A. and Margret Rey. After Margret finally got credit in the fifth book, this one was credited only to her husband again. If kids read these in order of release date, they are six books into it before they start to learn the alphabet. This is 80 pages of things in the shape of letters.

[Summer D Clemenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curious George is know for getting into mischief and having adventures but this story, Curious George Learns the Alphabet by H. A. Rey is pretty mild. In fact, it was so long, I should have taken a break. The alphabet can be tedious to learn in one sitting and even Curious George, The Man in the Yellow Hat and all the animals didn’t make it very fun for me.

[Cheryl Licata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curious George has no clue what the black marks mean in the Man with the Yellow Hat's book. The man becomes George's teacher explaining the alphabet to him and soon George is on a new adventure,
hopefully a lifelong journey through books. Don't we all want that for our children and grandchildren?

[Shaun Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even learning the alphabet is a challenge with George, but this is a welcome respite for parents, (who most likely have done alphabet books to death and are eager for a different take, no matter how slight.)

[Raj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who was your favorite character (and why)?

George because he is a vary good monkey

What surprised you?

how easily he learned the alphabet

Would you change the ending? Why/why not?

no because I don't need more words

[Stven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Each letter of the alphabet, upper and lower case, gets a picture drawn of something that begins with that letter and, cleverly, incorporating the letter itself into the picture. The pictures are nice, but unless you're actively learning the alphabet, the book is pretty boring.

[Luisa Zhuravleva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how this book is a simple and fun introduction to the alphabet. If I will teach in an early elementary classroom, then this is certainly a book I will include in the classroom library/curriculum.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love, Love, LOVED this alphabet book. I wish they made flashcards with the letter drawings from this book. H. A. Rey and his drawings makes each of the letters so memorable! This has to be one of my favorite books to help children learn their alphabet.

[PAR · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars! Really fun! Excellent for learning the alphabet and beginner readers. The letter associations and alliterations were great. It’s a little long but has lots of breaks so you don’t have to go through it all at once. Highly recommend for parents with tots!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars because George. OK, and my daughter loves this one. She's almost 3 and obsessed with letters. This is a pretty wordy book and she sits for the whole thing.

[Slow Man · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a creative way to introduce all 26 alphabets to new readers. Big and small letters and some are related to George’s earlier experience in the earlier books.

[Neurocomp · Rating 4 out of 5]

decent, jeffers AB book & F.Brooks AB books are better...btu curious george is sucha lovable character.
nothing fancy. but captivates the nephew.

[Darinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The man in the yellow hat teaches George the alphabet. A cute way to go over the alphabet.