The Bird, the Monkey, and the Snake in the Jungle

by Kate Banks, Tomek Bogacki (Illustrator)

This is a story in words and pictures about a bird, a monkey, and a snake who have an adventure together. Along the way they meet a family of squirrels, a hungry alligator, an enormous spider, a fierce tiger, and a friendly frog--and they find a new home.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 18, 1999

About the author

Kate Banks has written many books for children, among them Max’s Words, And If the Moon Could Talk, winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and The Night Worker, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award. She grew up in Maine, where she and her two sisters and brother spent a lot of time outdoors, and where Banks developed an early love of reading. “I especially liked picture books,” she says, “and the way in which words and illustrations could create a whole new world in which sometimes real and other times magical and unexpected things could happen.” Banks attended Wellesley College and received her masters in history at Columbia University. She lived in Rome for eight years but now lives in the South of France with her husband and two sons, Peter Anton and Maximilian.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/katebanks

Reviews

[Shawn Deal]

This is a nice little story told through words, and little box pictures, so that a younger reader can help read along as well. I have not seen something quite like this and thought it quite clever.

[Caroline Herfindahl]

You don't see a lot of rebus stories anymore... why is that? Kate Banks's story of a bird, a monkey and a snake in the jungle allows young readers to help you tell the story by including pictures in the text. It is also a great story about getting along and about acceptance.

[Karen GoatKeeper]

This is a rebus book where many of the nouns are replaced with pictures. There is a sidebar listing the pictures with the nouns they replace.
It seems the bird, the monkey and the snake live at different levels in the same jungle tree. The tree falls down leaving the three without a home. They go in search of a new tree to call home.
The illustrations are part of the story as the rebus pictures fit into them. This leaves them very stylized.

[Amy]

This is a charming rebus story with delightful use of text placement in its illustrations.

[Isabela]

This is not your usual picture book. It's a rebus book about 3 animals in the jungle. Fun for little kids.

[Blair]

Cute book with the illustration in a box for kids to help read the story. Was a bit distracting but I get the concept.

[Jeani]

Rebus books are awesome!

[Olivia Bailey]

I loved this book. It could be a mentor book while writing. Students could write a story that includes pictures like the book. Along with the story, they will have key for what the pictures represents. I like the contrast in writing. Students can relate to using the pictures to tell a story.

Students can learn about the habitats of animals. This would be good into to a science lesson. Students could research and draw about the habitats of animals.

[8feetahead]

This pictures and words weave together to create the story about 4 creatures attempt's to find a new home in the woods. Both kids (ages 2 and 5) were able to actively participate in 'reading' the story through the repeating pictographs. Great approach to a kids book.

[Misty]

This pictures and words weave together to create the story about 4 creatures attempt's to find a new home in the woods. Both kids (ages 2 and 5) were able to actively participate in 'reading' the story through the repeating pictographs. Great approach to a kids book.

[Alice]

This is a Rebus book which I wasn't sure what it even was. My co-worker said Look it up. It is a book where pictures are the words. So you have to go through the story and figure out what they are talking about by the symbol. SO MONKEY is a picture etc !

[Jennifer]

Reading with pictures instead of words kind of throws me off, but I think I can make this work for jungle stories at my outreach program tomorrow.