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Curious George Original Adventures #0
Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys
There is originality and a childlike humor in both the amusing antics and engaging pictures.” Booklist Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys was the first book to feature Curious George, as well as being Hans and Margret Rey’s first book for children. In this initial effort, about a lonely giraffe befriended by George and his eight siblings, we see all the hallmarks of Curious George’s signature style: humor, adventure, playfulness, and the episodic storytelling that later characterized classic George set pieces like the flyaway balloons, the rocket ship, and the bunny escape.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1942
26 people are currently reading
10753 people want to read
About the author
H.A. Rey
585 books213 followersHans Augusto Rey was born on September 16, 1898, in Hamburg, Germany. He grew up there near the world-famous Hagenbeck Zoo, and developed a lifelong love for animals and drawing. Margarete Elisabeth Waldstein (who would be known to most of the world as Margret Rey) was also born in Hamburg on May 16, 1906. The two met briefly when Margret was a young girl, before she left Hamburg to study art. They were reunited in 1935 in Rio de Janeiro, where Hans was selling bathtubs as part of a family business and Margret was escaping the political climate in Germany. Margret convinced Hans to leave the family business, and soon they were working together on a variety of projects.
Hans and Margret were married in Brazil on August 16, 1935, and they moved to Paris after falling in love with the city during their European honeymoon. It was there that Hans published his first children’s book, after a French publisher saw his newspaper cartoons of a giraffe and asked him to expand upon them. Raffy and the Nine Monkeys (Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys in the British and American editions) was the result, and it marked the debut of a mischievous monkey named Curious George.
After Raffy and the Nine Monkeys was published, the Reys decided that Curious George deserved a book of his own, so they began work on a manuscript that featured the lovable and exceedingly curious little monkey. But the late 1930s and early ’40s were a tumultuous time in Europe, and before the new manuscript could be published, the Reys—both German Jews—found themselves in a horrible situation. Hitler and his Nazi party were tearing through Europe, and they were poised to take control of Paris.
Knowing that they must escape before the Nazis took power, Hans cobbled together two bicycles out of spare parts. Early in the morning of June 14, 1940, the Reys set off on their bicycles. They brought very little with them on their predawn flight — only warm coats, a bit of food, and five manuscripts, one of which was Curious George. The Nazis entered Paris just hours later, but the Reys were already on their way out. They rode their makeshift bicycles for four long days until reaching the French-Spanish border, where they sold them for train fare to Lisbon. From there they made their way to Brazil and on to New York City, beginning a whole new life as children’s book authors.
Curious George was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941, and for sixty years these books have been capturing the hearts and minds of readers throughout the world. All the Curious George books, including the seven original stories by Margret and Hans, have sold more than twenty-five million copies. So popular that his original story has never been out of print, George has become one of the most beloved and recognizable characters in children’s literature. His adventures have been translated into many languages, including Japanese, French, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Swedish, German, Chinese, Danish, and Norwegian.
Although both of the Reys have passed away — Hans in 1977 and Margret in 1996—George lives on in the Curious George Foundation. Established in 1989, this foundation funds programs for children that share Curious George’s irresistible qualities—ingenuity, opportunity, determination, and curiosity in learning and exploring. Much consideration is given to programs that benefit animals, through preservation as well as the prevention of cruelty to animals. The foundation supports community outreach programs that emphasize the importance of family, from counseling to peer support groups.
Hans and Margret were married in Brazil on August 16, 1935, and they moved to Paris after falling in love with the city during their European honeymoon. It was there that Hans published his first children’s book, after a French publisher saw his newspaper cartoons of a giraffe and asked him to expand upon them. Raffy and the Nine Monkeys (Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys in the British and American editions) was the result, and it marked the debut of a mischievous monkey named Curious George.
After Raffy and the Nine Monkeys was published, the Reys decided that Curious George deserved a book of his own, so they began work on a manuscript that featured the lovable and exceedingly curious little monkey. But the late 1930s and early ’40s were a tumultuous time in Europe, and before the new manuscript could be published, the Reys—both German Jews—found themselves in a horrible situation. Hitler and his Nazi party were tearing through Europe, and they were poised to take control of Paris.
Knowing that they must escape before the Nazis took power, Hans cobbled together two bicycles out of spare parts. Early in the morning of June 14, 1940, the Reys set off on their bicycles. They brought very little with them on their predawn flight — only warm coats, a bit of food, and five manuscripts, one of which was Curious George. The Nazis entered Paris just hours later, but the Reys were already on their way out. They rode their makeshift bicycles for four long days until reaching the French-Spanish border, where they sold them for train fare to Lisbon. From there they made their way to Brazil and on to New York City, beginning a whole new life as children’s book authors.
Curious George was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941, and for sixty years these books have been capturing the hearts and minds of readers throughout the world. All the Curious George books, including the seven original stories by Margret and Hans, have sold more than twenty-five million copies. So popular that his original story has never been out of print, George has become one of the most beloved and recognizable characters in children’s literature. His adventures have been translated into many languages, including Japanese, French, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Swedish, German, Chinese, Danish, and Norwegian.
Although both of the Reys have passed away — Hans in 1977 and Margret in 1996—George lives on in the Curious George Foundation. Established in 1989, this foundation funds programs for children that share Curious George’s irresistible qualities—ingenuity, opportunity, determination, and curiosity in learning and exploring. Much consideration is given to programs that benefit animals, through preservation as well as the prevention of cruelty to animals. The foundation supports community outreach programs that emphasize the importance of family, from counseling to peer support groups.
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August 3, 2018A cute story that helps explain to young readers about the orignis of Curious George. Cecile Giraffe (who prefers to be known as Cecile G.) is quite sad, since her entire family has been taken away to the zoo. While she is drying her tears, a group of nine monkeys comes along to cheer her up. Cecily soon befriends these monkeys, which includes a highly energetic George. The monkeys and Cecily come up with some wonderful games, using height and agility to their advantage. When trouble strikes, Cecily and the nine monkeys are able to work together to solve it as a coordinated team. Neo liked this piece, which he listened to as a read-along book. He tells me that there are times when listening to a book makes it easier to be able to do other things at the same time. I have an audiobook reader in the making!
April 4, 2016
To check out all my reviews: http://dancinginth3dark.blogspot.com
Disappointing, Forgetful, and Troubled book.
It is not official whether or not I will begin the Curious George series and based on my research this book is the first book to feature George and I have to say for anyone who loves Curious George, please skip this book. I give you permission. The writing was all over the place, raised questions that were left unanswered and sugar coated the tragedy of how we hunt and capture animals to be sold to Zoos across the world.
We meet Cecily Giraffe who had the perfect life living in the Jungle, with family and friends to hang around and be loved until they were capture and sent to the Zoo. Now she is all by herself with no one to play with or for that matter someone to love. Then we meet these 9 monkeys who are sad because humans have destroyed their natural habitat and now they can't find a new place to call home so they begin their journey for a better place and along the way they meet Cecily and immediately all of their sadness is over because they live with each other as one big happy family. The author forgot one small detail... George gets captured by the man with the big yellow hat and goes off to live in a Zoo separated from his family never to see them again (Correct me if I am wrong? I hope I am wrong).
I know this book is meant for children but this should never have been written because then you have to address to a child how come George left his family to go live with a stranger in a faraway land. Hopefully this was not the authors intention because his story about how he fled from France to get away from the Nazis is remarkable and courageous but this book made the whole story of Curious George as an allegory for Slavery. I guarantee you if I had read this when this was published as a child I wouldn't have any qualms about it but now thanks to the Internet and the documentaries that goes into details on how we kill and capture animals makes this story outdated in terms of our ignorance.
I have no issues with Zoos, considering those that take in animals that are endangered or need medical treatment to survive but I would want my kids to be educated that animals should not be in a cage. The same goes to aquariums ever since I saw the Oscar-winning documentary, The Cove, my perception have changed when it comes to the captivity of animals. Probably this is the reason why I haven't encountered children books like Curious George in the 21st century because then you have to explain how it is perfectly fine for an animal to get captured by humans and then comes to love its captor and they become friends. Now when it comes to the Curious George series I will try my hardest to pretend that I never encountered this book. Sorry for my rant.
Disappointing, Forgetful, and Troubled book.
It is not official whether or not I will begin the Curious George series and based on my research this book is the first book to feature George and I have to say for anyone who loves Curious George, please skip this book. I give you permission. The writing was all over the place, raised questions that were left unanswered and sugar coated the tragedy of how we hunt and capture animals to be sold to Zoos across the world.
We meet Cecily Giraffe who had the perfect life living in the Jungle, with family and friends to hang around and be loved until they were capture and sent to the Zoo. Now she is all by herself with no one to play with or for that matter someone to love. Then we meet these 9 monkeys who are sad because humans have destroyed their natural habitat and now they can't find a new place to call home so they begin their journey for a better place and along the way they meet Cecily and immediately all of their sadness is over because they live with each other as one big happy family. The author forgot one small detail... George gets captured by the man with the big yellow hat and goes off to live in a Zoo separated from his family never to see them again (Correct me if I am wrong? I hope I am wrong).
I know this book is meant for children but this should never have been written because then you have to address to a child how come George left his family to go live with a stranger in a faraway land. Hopefully this was not the authors intention because his story about how he fled from France to get away from the Nazis is remarkable and courageous but this book made the whole story of Curious George as an allegory for Slavery. I guarantee you if I had read this when this was published as a child I wouldn't have any qualms about it but now thanks to the Internet and the documentaries that goes into details on how we kill and capture animals makes this story outdated in terms of our ignorance.
I have no issues with Zoos, considering those that take in animals that are endangered or need medical treatment to survive but I would want my kids to be educated that animals should not be in a cage. The same goes to aquariums ever since I saw the Oscar-winning documentary, The Cove, my perception have changed when it comes to the captivity of animals. Probably this is the reason why I haven't encountered children books like Curious George in the 21st century because then you have to explain how it is perfectly fine for an animal to get captured by humans and then comes to love its captor and they become friends. Now when it comes to the Curious George series I will try my hardest to pretend that I never encountered this book. Sorry for my rant.
August 11, 2021
Such a fun, silly story for kids. We love giraffes and Curious George so this is naturally a favorite. It's definitely super silly and my littles love the silliness of it.
PS. To all of the reviewers who must get political about children's books that are just meant to be silly & fun. Just stop it already.
PS. To all of the reviewers who must get political about children's books that are just meant to be silly & fun. Just stop it already.
June 25, 2021
Cecily Giraffe is sad. All her family and all her friends are gone, taken to the zoo, and she is all alone. She begins to cry because she wants someone to play with, someone to be her friend.
In another place, Mother Pamplemoose lives with her eight monkey children. They are sad, too, because woodcutters cut down all the trees in their forest. Monkeys need trees to live in, so the nine monkeys go off in search of trees and a new home.
Cecily G sees the monkeys when they reach the banks of a deep river and she makes herself into a bridge to help them cross over the river. She invites Mother Pamplemoose and the eight monkeys [Baby Jinny, Curious George, James, Johnny, Arthur, David, and the twins, Punch and Judy] to stay with her.
Cecily G is happy to have friends. But what will happen when there’s a fire . . . and it is Cecily G’s house that is burning?
Curious George makes his first appearance in the pages of a book in this delightfully funny, playful tale about friendship and teamwork. Young readers are sure to enjoy Curious George’s first adventure and the charming pictures accompanying the story.
Parents [or teachers] can parlay the story into a discussion about animals living in the zoo and/or how we must learn to care for the trees and the planet. But the young reader will enjoy the interactions between the giraffe and the monkeys. And, most importantly, it’s a fun story with a cute song at the end that tells how Cecily Giraffe helped the monkeys.
Recommended.
In another place, Mother Pamplemoose lives with her eight monkey children. They are sad, too, because woodcutters cut down all the trees in their forest. Monkeys need trees to live in, so the nine monkeys go off in search of trees and a new home.
Cecily G sees the monkeys when they reach the banks of a deep river and she makes herself into a bridge to help them cross over the river. She invites Mother Pamplemoose and the eight monkeys [Baby Jinny, Curious George, James, Johnny, Arthur, David, and the twins, Punch and Judy] to stay with her.
Cecily G is happy to have friends. But what will happen when there’s a fire . . . and it is Cecily G’s house that is burning?
Curious George makes his first appearance in the pages of a book in this delightfully funny, playful tale about friendship and teamwork. Young readers are sure to enjoy Curious George’s first adventure and the charming pictures accompanying the story.
Parents [or teachers] can parlay the story into a discussion about animals living in the zoo and/or how we must learn to care for the trees and the planet. But the young reader will enjoy the interactions between the giraffe and the monkeys. And, most importantly, it’s a fun story with a cute song at the end that tells how Cecily Giraffe helped the monkeys.
Recommended.
September 19, 2020
So Curious George had a family -- a mother (Pamplemoose) and 7 siblings, each with a distinctive personality.
Cecily is a giraffe, a very sad giraffe "because all her family and all her friends had been taken away to a zoo."
The money family was sad, too. "Some woodcutters had cut down all the trees in their forest, and monkeys have to have trees to live in."
Here, in 1942, Rey introduced young readers to habitat destruction and wanton removal of zoo species, but he keeps the tone light and shows that all of the animals 'adapted' (happily) to their situations.
Cecily is a giraffe, a very sad giraffe "because all her family and all her friends had been taken away to a zoo."
The money family was sad, too. "Some woodcutters had cut down all the trees in their forest, and monkeys have to have trees to live in."
Here, in 1942, Rey introduced young readers to habitat destruction and wanton removal of zoo species, but he keeps the tone light and shows that all of the animals 'adapted' (happily) to their situations.
December 28, 2015
My love of reading started when i was young, and it gives me immense pleasure to provide books to Spread the Word Nevada, an organization that passes them on to children in the community. They are a terrific organization supporting an important cause. If your local I encourage you to check them out. For those living further a field, look in your own community, their may already be a similar program in place. And if not, you can always help start one.
http://spreadthewordnevada.org/
Myself, I go out on the weekends and
shop thrift store and bulk book lots to rescue books and donate them. Sometimes I'll find a book I remember reading when I was young and will read it again before passing it on.
I don't rate these books using my normal scale, instead I give most of them three stars. This isn't a Criticism of the book, simply my way of rating them as good for children.
December 9, 2014
Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys is a classic story and one of the first books from Margret/ H.A Rey, and one of the first times Curious George appears in their books. It is interesting how different the style is, because it was written in 1939. The images are simple, but interesting because of the use of watercolors/ sketch style cartoons. The text is simple as well, and lots of white space is used. I also enjoyed the theme of friendship throughout the story. Cecily starts out as a very lonely giraffe, who meets 9 homeless monkeys who turn out to become her great friends. I would recommend this book to any Pre-K - 1st Grade.
July 17, 2015
Wow, what a lesson in dysfunctional relationships! Cecily has no friends, the monkeys have no place to live - should be the perfect match! The games they play together take advantage of Cecily, which she doesn't seem to mind because at least she has friends, right? There were was an interesting section at the end that talked about the authors and the evolution of the story from Europe to the US. This book is a one-time read for us.
November 2, 2014
I never tire of reading this to students. They're amazed to learn George has a story before The Man With The Yellow Hat kidnapped him. Lots of clever illustrations but my favorite is when Cecily hangs her skin out to dry.
April 19, 2025
Gorgeous must-own edition of the first adventure of Curious George. The back matter contains a lovely picture-book style biography of the authors (Rey's wife worked on the text and story). Vintage-style picture book originally published in the 1930s and updated in 1947 for the American version. The story is a series of comic episodes where the monkeys reimagine uses for a giraffe's long neck—not unlike an animated short of the time. The illustration is classic Rey, adorable and energetic. beautiful reprint edition.
July 17, 2017
I didn't know there was a Curious George book that came before the original Curious George books, so when I spotted this at the library, I plucked it right up to borrow. Some of the newer George stories are on repeat in our house, so this was a nice addition. Though I do like the originals and the newer stories better, it was interesting to see where such a beloved character came from.
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September 10, 2019Genre- Fiction
Teaching Points-
Preschool or kindergarteners may enjoy this book in the beginning of the year when they are learning to get along with one another and become friends. Students can use this book as a tool for learning what to do when someone looks left out or feeling lonely. It is a funny way to introduce "people skills."
Teaching Points-
Preschool or kindergarteners may enjoy this book in the beginning of the year when they are learning to get along with one another and become friends. Students can use this book as a tool for learning what to do when someone looks left out or feeling lonely. It is a funny way to introduce "people skills."
October 25, 2021
Cecily G. (g for giraffe) was lonely when she met a family of nine monkeys who had lost their habitat. (Among those 9 monkeys is the now famous Curious George.) They became friends through lots of playing, and a fire put out by them all together. Following the story is "the Story Behind the Story of Cecily G." and the history of the authors. Fun story and illustrations.
December 12, 2017
This is a picture manual on how to take advantage of someone's loneliness.
But the illustrations are just SO GOOD. The one with the giraffe in her dressing gown? To die for!
But the story really is awful.
But the illustrations are just SO GOOD. The one with the giraffe in her dressing gown? To die for!
But the story really is awful.
August 3, 2017
I love reading these books when I was a kid . All I wonder ever do was go to my room and read one of his books it always made me laugh when I needed to
March 12, 2018
It was nice meeting Cecily G., Curious George and his family. My little ones enjoyed the story for what it was.
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July 22, 2019What up
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2019
Chloe
.com
.com
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2020
This is a cute story involving a giraffe (my favorite) and 9 monkeys, including Curious George. The artwork is fun and the story is simple, something most children would find fun.
December 26, 2020
It is amazing
Want to read
January 2, 2021Later
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July 3, 2021Grubb
March 17, 2022
The first book about Curious George. The art is instantly recognizeable.
May 12, 2023
I liked that, at the end, they made a little song that was called Nine Little Monks.
August 14, 2023
All I can say is I feel sorry for Cecily having to to out up with being tortured by the playing monkeys.
December 2, 2023
I had no idea about the prehistory of the Curious George series! My library’s copy was issued in 2007, with a biographical afterword by Louise Borden—and she signed the book!
May 23, 2024
I enjoyed the afterward almost more than the story. It was interesting to learn how Curious George came about.
June 10, 2024
Curious George was with him family in this book. I liked that Cecily joined their family. I will call my giraffe lego Cecily too and remember how helpful she was to the monkies
January 19, 2025
A highly entertaining introduction to the character 'Curious George' as well as his mom and siblings, and a new friend!
December 17, 2025
This is a cute book that starts up the stories about curious George. The copy I read in particular had extra history about the authors in the back which was also interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews