Monkey Needs to Listen - A book about paying attention

by Sue Graves

A lively picture book that examines the issue of not listening in an amusing but reassuring way through animal characters - perfect for young children who forget to listen. The story offers a gentle way in to reinforce this good behaviour. At the end of the story there are notes for parents and teachers with suggestions of ways to help children deal with anger. Monkey is so excited about a go-kart race that he doesn't listen to any of the instructions. He doesn't stop to check his kart and he nearly ruins the race for all the animals. Can Monkey learn to listen and pay attention or will the race be abandoned for good? It is part of a series Behaviour Matter s, which is perfect for sharing with children as a gentle means of discussing their emotions, boosting self-esteem and reinforcing good behaviour. Each book has a fun story featuring fantastic characters which is backed up by suggestions for activities and ideas to talk through together. They support the Personal, Social and Emotional Development Area of Learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
'Excellent for sharing and encouraging discussion... we can all learn from the approach taken in this series.' Parents in Touch

Genres: Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Gabrielle Sandford-Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

MONKEY NEEDS TO LISTEN - A BOOK ABOUT PAYING ATTENTION

Monkey Needs To Listen is a great text for teaching young children the importance of listening to instructions for effective learning and their safety! The consequences of not paying attention can become and issue for their learning and their peers’ learning too, which can be discussed through this short text.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the Behavior Matters series, this installment uses the construction and racing of derby cars to very pointedly demonstrate what happens when directions are not heard and does it in a humorous way.

Mr. Croc has all sorts of raw materials sitting around and comes up with the great idea for his class/group of animal friends to build two derby cars and then race them. He is very careful to give each student specific responsibilities to ensure workable vehicles but Monkey is too excited to pay attention and does not check the steering and wheels as directed. When race time arrives, Mr. Croc is clear about not going too fast when the roadway curves around the swamp but when Monkey’s name is drawn to be one of the drivers, he is again, way too excited to pay attention. Result? Shaky steering, wheels that pop off and Monkey and car dumped into the gooey swamp. Lesson learned, the animals give it another try with all of them paying attention to Mr. Croc’s directions. Result? Both cars cross the finish line with a good time had by all.

Text is perfect for early readers—only 1 modest length paragraph per page, large font and plenty of print variation to emphasize key words. Half or more of each page is dedicated to illustrations that will entertain even adults reading with their kids-expressive faces on animals, plenty of motion conveyed with the crash illustrations being particularly perfect. Back matter suggests ways for parents and teachers to use this book.

Highly recommended for use with children in preschool through grade 3.

Note: I happened to watch a well-done online reading of this book done by a child with an English accent so if this is actually a British title, that might explain the use of “spoilt” instead of the US preferred “spoiled” and the verb “mended” chosen instead of the “fixed” that most US kids would use.

[James Donald]

This book dealt with Mr. Croc who had ideas for an after school club. Everyone had special jobs in building a go cart but Monkey never listened. Monkey went to fast and his go cart came apart. Everyone helped Monkey fix his go cart. He then listened and finished the race (Graves, S., & Dunton, T. (2022). Monkey needs to listen. Franklin Watts).

This book is appropriate for kindergarten through fifth grade. It is easy to follow and has plenty of pictures. The pictures will easily keep the children's attention.

I chose this book because it shows the importance of paying attention. In school, paying attention is very important if you want to learn. If you do not pay attention in class, you can easily fall behind and not understand concepts that the teacher is trying to get across. It can cause you to be help back and not advance to the next grade. Paying attention matters.

[Children's Bookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of the awesome “Behavior Matters” series. About a monkey who is so excited to ride on go carts he doesn’t listen to any of the instructions. What could go wrong? 😂 I read this to my kindergarten class and my first graders and have had very positive results. If a student isn’t paying attention all I say is “Who’s being a monkey?” And everyone quickly sits up straight and looks at me... this is making my life so much easier 👍🏼

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Croc's class is building go karts to race. Everyone is listening carefully and working hard... except for Monkey. So when Monkey drives his go-kart down a hill, disaster happens. I like this series because the characters experience the consequences of their actions but are also able to make things right in the end.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son liked this story and talked a lot about the outcomes of monkey's actions. He had fun reading this book and it challenged his reading skills.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fair story on why listening is so important
Also shows some consequences of not listening. A nice story line.

[Cl3-Dyer]

I recently read to my new Block B placement class as they struggle when it comes to listening

[Emma-Jayne Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to use as a discussion starter with children in the classroom or at home. This one is about being a bad listener but learning to pay attention. Great collection of books!

[Deb]

We've all met those people who are like Monkey who want to rush head on into a task without taking the time to listen to instructions or to heed warnings. In a classroom there might be more than one child who is a little bit like Monkey some of the time.

This book is clearly written and there is something that everyone can learn from it whether they are the student like Monkey, or if they are the teacher. The teacher in the story provides a great model for providing students with prompts for listening and steps for completing tasks. Despite these prompts, Monkey is in a hurry and doesn't take the time to listen or to give the tasks he is responsible with ehte attention they need. He just wants to rush through, and the end result is not good. Fortunately, Monkey has supportive classmates and a teacher who are willing to help Monkey fix things and to try it all again so that he can have success.

[Fromwordstoworlds · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is easy reading and funny.
At Jungle School Mr Croc has an interesting idea – to make everyone work in teams to build go-karts and afterwards have a race round the swamp. They are all very excited and listen to the instructions except the monkey who doesn’t listen at all. He doesn’t check the go-kart and almost ruins the race. Monkey is not the bad guy in the story, he is just in a hurry and doesn’t take the time to do his tasks properly. The results are not good, time is wasted and the others are affected as well.

Please read the complete review on the blog:
https://fromwordstoworlds.wordpress.c...

[D Nine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just okay. Too wordy and repetitive in the "explaining."