Not Me, Said the Monkey by West, Colin (2009) Paperback

by Colin West

NA

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

24 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1988

About the author

Colin West has been writing and illustrating books for children as long as he can remember. He works in the attic studio of his house in Epping, England, which he shares with his wife, Cathie.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great children's book - the repetitive narrative is a fun & great way to learn.

[Shini · Rating 4 out of 5]

The monkey in the book is causing mischief by dropping banana skins, walking on the snake and throwing coconuts.

The last straw is when he tickles the elephant. The elephant then sucks up some water in his trunk and splashes it all over the monkey with a ‘WHOOOOSH!’

All the animals think the monkey will stop messing around, but in the end when asked who will stop the monkey business he says ‘NOT ME’.

This book would be suitable for children in KS1 or children in EYFS but only if parents read it to them. The book has its good and bad points which are that the illustrations are good, so younger children would be able to tell what is happening in the story without even reading the book. The animals have also been drawn with specific expressions on their faces, so questions could be asked as to how they are feeling.

A bad point is that the monkey at the end of the story is not sorry for what he has done, so this does not promote good behaviour.

[Anouschka Fernander · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story of a naughty monkey who is bothering different animals in the jungle, he leaves banana skins everywhere and annoys a lion, steps all over a snake and throws coconuts at a rhino. When he keeps tickling an elephant he gets sprayed with lots of water by the elephant but the monkey still does not change his ways!

The book is very well illustrated and the order he meets each animal in is kept throughout the story, which makes it easy to follow.
The repeated line of "Not me!" keeps children engaged and allows them to join in when reading as a class.

The story could be put to music and sung, could be performed as a play, could be used when discussing animal habitats or making up a story of things that the monkey could do next.

[kachowtandabout · Rating 5 out of 5]

They loved how short this book was haha

[Anne reads to Zeyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

mummy read this to me and I was very engaged by the colourful illustrations!

the monkey was very naughty, bothering all his animal friends!

[Elowyn Guy · Rating 2 out of 5]

hate it

[Bek · Rating 1 out of 5]

My least favorite book to read to the kids. This monkey is a real arsehole. Amongst other things, he goes around and stomps on the snake and throws coconuts at the rhino, thinking it's all super funny. All the animals have an intervention towards the end and all this little brat cops is a light spray in the face from elephant. He just thinks it's all a hoot. He shows no remorse and is just going to do it all again.

Boo, just an annoying book which teaches kids to lie, laugh at others and have zero empathy.

[Cai · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a cheeky monkey out there doing naughty things. When asked he says "not me".

This book was pretty forgettable. Although I will concede I was busy trying to make sure V didn't scream the place down.

This book was read to us as a part of the Babes'n'Books program at our local library.

V @ 8 months old.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh