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Baby Monkey, Private Eye
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Picture Books (2018)Who is Baby Monkey?
He is a baby.
He is a monkey.
He has a job.
He is Baby Monkey, Private Eye!
Lost jewels?
Missing pizza?
Stolen spaceship?
Baby Monkey can help...
if he can put on his pants!
Baby Monkey's adventures come to life in a blend of picture book, beginning reader, and graphic novel.
He is a baby.
He is a monkey.
He has a job.
He is Baby Monkey, Private Eye!
Lost jewels?
Missing pizza?
Stolen spaceship?
Baby Monkey can help...
if he can put on his pants!
Baby Monkey's adventures come to life in a blend of picture book, beginning reader, and graphic novel.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published February 27, 2018
42 people are currently reading
3201 people want to read
About the author
Brian Selznick
67 books4,166 followersHello there. My name is Brian Selznick and I’m the author and illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I was born in 1966 in New Jersey. I have a sister who is a teacher, a brother who is a brain surgeon, and five nephews and one niece. I studied at The Rhode Island School of Design and after I graduated from college I worked at Eeyore’s Books for Children in New York City. I learned all about children’s books from my boss Steve Geck who is now an editor of children’s books at Greenwillow. While I was at Eeyore’s I also painted the windows for holidays and book events.
My first book, The Houdini Box, which I both wrote and illustrated, was published in 1991 while I was still working at the bookstore. Since then, I have illustrated many books for children, including Frindle by Andrew Clements, The Doll People by Ann Martin and Laura Godwin, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride by Pam Muñoz Ryan and The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley, which received a 2001 Caldecott Honor.
I have also written a few other books myself, including The Boy of a Thousand Faces, but The Invention of Hugo Cabret is by far the longest and most involved book I’ve ever worked on.
I live in Brooklyn, New York, and San Diego, California.
My first book, The Houdini Box, which I both wrote and illustrated, was published in 1991 while I was still working at the bookstore. Since then, I have illustrated many books for children, including Frindle by Andrew Clements, The Doll People by Ann Martin and Laura Godwin, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride by Pam Muñoz Ryan and The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley, which received a 2001 Caldecott Honor.
I have also written a few other books myself, including The Boy of a Thousand Faces, but The Invention of Hugo Cabret is by far the longest and most involved book I’ve ever worked on.
I live in Brooklyn, New York, and San Diego, California.
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January 11, 2018
Brian Selznick. Honey. We’ve got to talk.
Now look, it was all well and good when you started getting a little crazy and shaking up notions of what an “illustrated book” actually means. Winning the Caldecott for a novel? Never been done before. And the fact that Hugo Cabret and its companion novels Wonderstruck and The Marvels push every conceivable envelope, in terms of what a visual novel can be, is not just noteworthy but historic. But now you’re getting all slick on us. It wasn’t enough to conquer the middle grade illustrated novel, eh? Now you’re just fudging the lines between early chapter books and picture books in ways I’ve honestly never seen before. Baby Monkey, Private Eye is, as anyone looking at the cover could tell you, freakishly adorable. And funny. But it may also be the most subversive little number to hit our shelves in a very long time.
Got a crime? Then who you gonna call? Forget Sam Spade and his ilk. The true brains in this town belong to Baby Monkey. He’s a baby, he’s a monkey, and he’s a crime fighting genius. With every client that crosses the threshold of his office, he has a routine in place. Examine the evidence. Take notes. Have a snack. Put on some pants (that particular part of the job is a bit on the trying side). And solve that crime! Baby monkey always gets his man (slash zebra/lion/snake/mouse). But when his final case involves a missing baby, that’s when things start getting personal.
Have a seat. I need to tell you a story. About three years ago I got wrapped up in a wave of hubris that almost knocked me flat. I had been suggested by an academic friend to contribute a chapter to a Routledge resource on picture books. Please bear in mind that I have almost no experience with academia in any form. Blithely I agreed and was subsequently floored when it became eminently clear that I was in over my head. My assigned chapter was “Picturebooks and Illustrated Books”, a distinction that I wasn’t overly familiar with. It all worked out in the end (thanks to the intervention of a friend who knew this territory better than I) and I got a crash course in the difference between an “illustrated book” and a “picture book”. Would that Baby Monkey, Private Eye had been available when I was determining these distinctions. As it turns out, there is a very good reason that press for this book calls it “a winning new format”. I'll break it down for you.
Let us first pick up our copy of the book and just give it a good going over. As you can see, it’s your standard 5-1/4 X 7-3/4 inch sized novel. 192 pages in length. Seems pretty standard stuff. And yet from the moment you open it up it’s pretty clear that the bulk of the book is going to be art rather than text. Though it contains five chapters, a Key, an Index, and a Bibliography (more on that later) the actual book is perfect for very young readers. It is also perfect (and I cannot stress this enough) for reading ALOUD to large groups of very young readers. This realization had me pondering what it would have looked like if Selznick and Serlin had kept the page count but pulled a Bolivar and made the pages picture book-sized. Certainly that would have taken much longer to create (lotta cross-hatching would ensue) but in an era when the walls between formats is a lot more fluid than in the past (thanks in large part to the aforementioned Hugo Cabret) it certainly could have been done. And yet, the creators clearly wanted this to be an early chapter book. Selznick actually got his start back in the day with The Houdini Box, which was early chapter fare of a different sort. And reading this book with my 3-year-old and 6-year-old (who both loved it equally) this book may indeed be one of those pan-age level titles that transcend audience. Doggone it.
Why do both of my small children love this book so much? Because it’s a gut-buster, frankly. Funny? Sister, you don’t know the half of it. The very opening of the book sets the stage for hilarity. You open it up and are accosted by an oversized call to “WAIT!” It then challenges you with the question “Who is Baby Monkey?” The answer? “He is a baby.” Page turn. “He is a monkey”. Page turn. “He has a job to do.” That’s when you see his detective agency. Now as any good children’s book author knows, when writing a funny book for children, ideally you should direct some humor at the kids and some at the adult readers. Go too far in the children’s direction and you get Walter the Farting Dog. Go too far in the adult direction and you get some crappy Dreamworks movie that’s more of a prolonged wink than a film. In this, Serlin and Selznick find the perfect sweet spot. For the adults there’s a kind of seek-and-find element to Baby Monkey’s ever changing office. For kids, there’s the fact that baby monkey cannot easily put on his own pants. Pants are, by their nature, hilarious. I think it has something to do with the word itself. Pants. And while most jokes work best when you’re operating under the Rule of Threes, the choice to give this book five chapters (which involves four pant-struggling sequences) is bold. Surely there was a temptation somewhere in the process to limit the chapters to three. I respect the fact that it’s an unwieldy five instead. Gives the jokes more time to percolate.
Monkeys should, by all rights, be classic picture book staples. With that in mind, I ask you this: Who is the most famous monkey in the whole of children’s literature. If you said Curious George I’m gonna whip out the old “Curious George is actually an ape” line and we’ll have at it. But beyond George there are shockingly few famous kidlit monkeys to choose between. This is particularly strange because monkeys should potentially fill all the requirements of children’s book illustration. They are small, like human children, and cute, like human children. They are, in fact, the perfect stand-ins. Selznick, for his part, has gone and gotten cute on us. His baby monkey is remarkably tiny. Do you remember that old Disney-drawn explanation of “The Cute Character” where the ratio of the head to body, ears to head, legs to feet, etc. are explained? Well, Selznick clearly knows his stuff. Baby monkey’s proportions are carefully calibrated for maximum cuteness, as are his facial expressions, and body language. This is part of the reason the book works as well as it does with the youngest of readers. Who wouldn’t love that guy?
The art is indicative of Selznick’s trademark graphite, with one notable difference. Color! That’s right, baby, there’s at least one singular jolt of color making itself known in each chapter. I had just assumed that the red of the missing jewels / pizza / clown nose / etc. was the same as the red on the cover of the book, but this does not appear to be the case. While the red of the letters on the cover are deep, the jewels / pizza / nose have this extraordinary tint to them. Maybe just a hint of orange? I couldn’t say, but whatever it is it just pops off the page. I think longingly of what this book could have been had the author written it in a picture book format. Then I get ahold of myself again and appreciate it for what it is.
I mentioned earlier that in writing a book for children that’s funny, an author has to walk a fine line between humor for kid readers and humor for adult readers. In the case of Baby Monkey, though, this applies to far more than the jokes. In his art, Selznick takes care to hide in plain site multiple references to whatever case it is that Baby Monkey is about to solve. His office before the opera singer comes in is outfitted with portraits of Maria Callas and Marian Anderson. A bust of Mozart overseas Baby Monkey’s note taking. There’s even a reference to that old Marx Brother classic (my personal favorite) A Night at the Opera. With each case the décor changes. Don’t think for a moment that I’m good at spotting all these references, though. While I got the poster for the 1980 production of Barnum and recognized the image from A Trip to the Moon (a bit of an homage to Hugo Cabret in its way) I had to rely heavily on Selznick’s “Key to Baby Monkey’s Office” at the back of the book. There you will find all the hidden references laid out before you. It’s really nice, actually. Few artists take the time to let their readers in on their jokes. But the book’s most subtle jokes for adults are also the most superfluous (and, consequently, the most charming). After the aforementioned “Key” you’ll find an Index and Bibliography that honestly have no reason at all to be there. The Index may be worth it entirely for the entry on “Wainscoting” (Warning: it’s intense). The Bibliography, however, is a carefully crafted labor of lovable nonsense. It is filled from guggle to zatch with nonsense books. From a 1997 edition of Animals Who Look Like They Have No Noses (2nd edition, if we’re going to be specific) to Moshe Moshi’s Famous Babies I Have Known the faux titles, authors, and presses abound. Honestly, just read it for the authors’ names. Barbara Bathtowel. Luis Gergle. Herbert Hobbypocket. I could go on all day.
I wonder if there’s a moment where a children’s book creator peaks and then crosses over to a whole new level. Sendak sort of did it, the consequence being that he traded his mortality for some truly obtuse works for kids. Selznick is traveling on a Sendakian course, but along the way he’s never lost his penchant for kid-friendly fare. Credit collaborator David Serlin (who’s getting the short end of the stick in this review) or credit is unequivocal love for the audience (a weapon Sendak never had in his own back pocket). For all its seeming simplicity, Baby Monkey packs a wallop. It challenges what an early chapter book can be, it’s the funniest fare you might read this year, it’s beautiful to look at, and there’s plenty to please small children and grown adults alike. Taken as a whole, the Serlin/Selznick duo is a force to be reckoned with. Will we see more Baby Monkey in the future? I cannot know the answer. All I can hope is that these guys pair up frequently. I like where all this is headed.
For ages 3 and up.
Now look, it was all well and good when you started getting a little crazy and shaking up notions of what an “illustrated book” actually means. Winning the Caldecott for a novel? Never been done before. And the fact that Hugo Cabret and its companion novels Wonderstruck and The Marvels push every conceivable envelope, in terms of what a visual novel can be, is not just noteworthy but historic. But now you’re getting all slick on us. It wasn’t enough to conquer the middle grade illustrated novel, eh? Now you’re just fudging the lines between early chapter books and picture books in ways I’ve honestly never seen before. Baby Monkey, Private Eye is, as anyone looking at the cover could tell you, freakishly adorable. And funny. But it may also be the most subversive little number to hit our shelves in a very long time.
Got a crime? Then who you gonna call? Forget Sam Spade and his ilk. The true brains in this town belong to Baby Monkey. He’s a baby, he’s a monkey, and he’s a crime fighting genius. With every client that crosses the threshold of his office, he has a routine in place. Examine the evidence. Take notes. Have a snack. Put on some pants (that particular part of the job is a bit on the trying side). And solve that crime! Baby monkey always gets his man (slash zebra/lion/snake/mouse). But when his final case involves a missing baby, that’s when things start getting personal.
Have a seat. I need to tell you a story. About three years ago I got wrapped up in a wave of hubris that almost knocked me flat. I had been suggested by an academic friend to contribute a chapter to a Routledge resource on picture books. Please bear in mind that I have almost no experience with academia in any form. Blithely I agreed and was subsequently floored when it became eminently clear that I was in over my head. My assigned chapter was “Picturebooks and Illustrated Books”, a distinction that I wasn’t overly familiar with. It all worked out in the end (thanks to the intervention of a friend who knew this territory better than I) and I got a crash course in the difference between an “illustrated book” and a “picture book”. Would that Baby Monkey, Private Eye had been available when I was determining these distinctions. As it turns out, there is a very good reason that press for this book calls it “a winning new format”. I'll break it down for you.
Let us first pick up our copy of the book and just give it a good going over. As you can see, it’s your standard 5-1/4 X 7-3/4 inch sized novel. 192 pages in length. Seems pretty standard stuff. And yet from the moment you open it up it’s pretty clear that the bulk of the book is going to be art rather than text. Though it contains five chapters, a Key, an Index, and a Bibliography (more on that later) the actual book is perfect for very young readers. It is also perfect (and I cannot stress this enough) for reading ALOUD to large groups of very young readers. This realization had me pondering what it would have looked like if Selznick and Serlin had kept the page count but pulled a Bolivar and made the pages picture book-sized. Certainly that would have taken much longer to create (lotta cross-hatching would ensue) but in an era when the walls between formats is a lot more fluid than in the past (thanks in large part to the aforementioned Hugo Cabret) it certainly could have been done. And yet, the creators clearly wanted this to be an early chapter book. Selznick actually got his start back in the day with The Houdini Box, which was early chapter fare of a different sort. And reading this book with my 3-year-old and 6-year-old (who both loved it equally) this book may indeed be one of those pan-age level titles that transcend audience. Doggone it.
Why do both of my small children love this book so much? Because it’s a gut-buster, frankly. Funny? Sister, you don’t know the half of it. The very opening of the book sets the stage for hilarity. You open it up and are accosted by an oversized call to “WAIT!” It then challenges you with the question “Who is Baby Monkey?” The answer? “He is a baby.” Page turn. “He is a monkey”. Page turn. “He has a job to do.” That’s when you see his detective agency. Now as any good children’s book author knows, when writing a funny book for children, ideally you should direct some humor at the kids and some at the adult readers. Go too far in the children’s direction and you get Walter the Farting Dog. Go too far in the adult direction and you get some crappy Dreamworks movie that’s more of a prolonged wink than a film. In this, Serlin and Selznick find the perfect sweet spot. For the adults there’s a kind of seek-and-find element to Baby Monkey’s ever changing office. For kids, there’s the fact that baby monkey cannot easily put on his own pants. Pants are, by their nature, hilarious. I think it has something to do with the word itself. Pants. And while most jokes work best when you’re operating under the Rule of Threes, the choice to give this book five chapters (which involves four pant-struggling sequences) is bold. Surely there was a temptation somewhere in the process to limit the chapters to three. I respect the fact that it’s an unwieldy five instead. Gives the jokes more time to percolate.
Monkeys should, by all rights, be classic picture book staples. With that in mind, I ask you this: Who is the most famous monkey in the whole of children’s literature. If you said Curious George I’m gonna whip out the old “Curious George is actually an ape” line and we’ll have at it. But beyond George there are shockingly few famous kidlit monkeys to choose between. This is particularly strange because monkeys should potentially fill all the requirements of children’s book illustration. They are small, like human children, and cute, like human children. They are, in fact, the perfect stand-ins. Selznick, for his part, has gone and gotten cute on us. His baby monkey is remarkably tiny. Do you remember that old Disney-drawn explanation of “The Cute Character” where the ratio of the head to body, ears to head, legs to feet, etc. are explained? Well, Selznick clearly knows his stuff. Baby monkey’s proportions are carefully calibrated for maximum cuteness, as are his facial expressions, and body language. This is part of the reason the book works as well as it does with the youngest of readers. Who wouldn’t love that guy?
The art is indicative of Selznick’s trademark graphite, with one notable difference. Color! That’s right, baby, there’s at least one singular jolt of color making itself known in each chapter. I had just assumed that the red of the missing jewels / pizza / clown nose / etc. was the same as the red on the cover of the book, but this does not appear to be the case. While the red of the letters on the cover are deep, the jewels / pizza / nose have this extraordinary tint to them. Maybe just a hint of orange? I couldn’t say, but whatever it is it just pops off the page. I think longingly of what this book could have been had the author written it in a picture book format. Then I get ahold of myself again and appreciate it for what it is.
I mentioned earlier that in writing a book for children that’s funny, an author has to walk a fine line between humor for kid readers and humor for adult readers. In the case of Baby Monkey, though, this applies to far more than the jokes. In his art, Selznick takes care to hide in plain site multiple references to whatever case it is that Baby Monkey is about to solve. His office before the opera singer comes in is outfitted with portraits of Maria Callas and Marian Anderson. A bust of Mozart overseas Baby Monkey’s note taking. There’s even a reference to that old Marx Brother classic (my personal favorite) A Night at the Opera. With each case the décor changes. Don’t think for a moment that I’m good at spotting all these references, though. While I got the poster for the 1980 production of Barnum and recognized the image from A Trip to the Moon (a bit of an homage to Hugo Cabret in its way) I had to rely heavily on Selznick’s “Key to Baby Monkey’s Office” at the back of the book. There you will find all the hidden references laid out before you. It’s really nice, actually. Few artists take the time to let their readers in on their jokes. But the book’s most subtle jokes for adults are also the most superfluous (and, consequently, the most charming). After the aforementioned “Key” you’ll find an Index and Bibliography that honestly have no reason at all to be there. The Index may be worth it entirely for the entry on “Wainscoting” (Warning: it’s intense). The Bibliography, however, is a carefully crafted labor of lovable nonsense. It is filled from guggle to zatch with nonsense books. From a 1997 edition of Animals Who Look Like They Have No Noses (2nd edition, if we’re going to be specific) to Moshe Moshi’s Famous Babies I Have Known the faux titles, authors, and presses abound. Honestly, just read it for the authors’ names. Barbara Bathtowel. Luis Gergle. Herbert Hobbypocket. I could go on all day.
I wonder if there’s a moment where a children’s book creator peaks and then crosses over to a whole new level. Sendak sort of did it, the consequence being that he traded his mortality for some truly obtuse works for kids. Selznick is traveling on a Sendakian course, but along the way he’s never lost his penchant for kid-friendly fare. Credit collaborator David Serlin (who’s getting the short end of the stick in this review) or credit is unequivocal love for the audience (a weapon Sendak never had in his own back pocket). For all its seeming simplicity, Baby Monkey packs a wallop. It challenges what an early chapter book can be, it’s the funniest fare you might read this year, it’s beautiful to look at, and there’s plenty to please small children and grown adults alike. Taken as a whole, the Serlin/Selznick duo is a force to be reckoned with. Will we see more Baby Monkey in the future? I cannot know the answer. All I can hope is that these guys pair up frequently. I like where all this is headed.
For ages 3 and up.
November 12, 2018
Each year my family reads all the Goodreads-award-nominated picture books. This is book #13 (of 20) of 2018, an early reader (grades 1-4) by the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and other middle grade graphic novels. We really liked this book a lot! It features a baby money who is a private eye. It's a first chapter book with few words and Selznick's typically breathtaking drawings. It's also a mystery short story collection, teaching people to pay attention to clues in the backgrounds (as in books like Where's Waldo?). Some of the clues are actually ones adults would only know, but that's okay, because an adult would read an early chapter hooklike this with a child for the first time, at least. It's not a social justice book, it's a fun book, that also teaches genre at a very early age. Tara and I say 5 stars, but I'll rate down because of the three lower kid ratings.
Lyra (11): 4.5 stars. I love the detailed pencil drawings. It's a very cute book with a very cute monkey
Hank (12): 4 stars. Cute!
Harry (13): 4 stars. I like the key to baby monkey's office.
Tara: 5 stars for the drawings. That's a cute monkey. I like the clues in the pictures framed on the walls.
Dave: 5 stars. Love it! There's deliberate repletion in each chapter, a mystery that gets solved almost immediately, humorously so. Selznick's grandfather is one of the great producers of cinema history, so there are (sort of) "clues" in the framed pictures on the wall pertaining to each mystery; for instance, there's the mystery of a stolen pizza, and on the wall are framed poster of The Italian Job, there's are pictures of the Colosseum, a map of Italy. On another page there's an Italian sculpture, the Mona Lisa, and so on. Ii each case, baby monkey looks for clues, take notes, and. . . has trouble putting on his pants. Silly, but sweet.
Lyra (11): 4.5 stars. I love the detailed pencil drawings. It's a very cute book with a very cute monkey
Hank (12): 4 stars. Cute!
Harry (13): 4 stars. I like the key to baby monkey's office.
Tara: 5 stars for the drawings. That's a cute monkey. I like the clues in the pictures framed on the walls.
Dave: 5 stars. Love it! There's deliberate repletion in each chapter, a mystery that gets solved almost immediately, humorously so. Selznick's grandfather is one of the great producers of cinema history, so there are (sort of) "clues" in the framed pictures on the wall pertaining to each mystery; for instance, there's the mystery of a stolen pizza, and on the wall are framed poster of The Italian Job, there's are pictures of the Colosseum, a map of Italy. On another page there's an Italian sculpture, the Mona Lisa, and so on. Ii each case, baby monkey looks for clues, take notes, and. . . has trouble putting on his pants. Silly, but sweet.
March 5, 2018
The art is all what you expect of a Brian Selznick book. It's fantastic. The story is repetitive and good, not as great as I have come to expect from Brian.
Baby Monkey is a detective and he solves cases really well. The thing is, each chapter is a case and they are all the same accept who did it and the pictures in the room. It's fun to see the differences. Still, there isn't much of a story here, not like even his novels before Hugo Cabret. A beginning reader could easily read this for themselves and probably really enjoy it. I did enjoy the story, but I have a higher standard for Brian Selznick. It's a good book, it's not an amazing book for me.
I am going to let the 7 year old read this. I'm sure she'll love it. This is an entertaining story.
Baby Monkey is a detective and he solves cases really well. The thing is, each chapter is a case and they are all the same accept who did it and the pictures in the room. It's fun to see the differences. Still, there isn't much of a story here, not like even his novels before Hugo Cabret. A beginning reader could easily read this for themselves and probably really enjoy it. I did enjoy the story, but I have a higher standard for Brian Selznick. It's a good book, it's not an amazing book for me.
I am going to let the 7 year old read this. I'm sure she'll love it. This is an entertaining story.
November 21, 2017
As an elementary school librarian, reading teacher, and a parent of a 6-year-old (and several older kids who were once 6), I'll tell you why this book is fabulous: because ALL kindergarten and first graders want in the whole entire world is to be able to check out and read a BIG BOOK. They want one just like the big kids get. The thick ones. With chapters. That's why Selznick's other books are so hot - BIG THICK BOOKS that all kids can experience.
BUT. We keep talking Good Fit Books this and Good Fit Books that. Blah blah blah. WELL, this is it. It's big. It's thick. It has tons of pages. BUT. THEY CAN READ IT! I field tested it with my 6 yo daughter last night and she LOVED it. She figured out all the picture clues and was able to read multiple sections to me. And as an adult, it's just plain adorable. The majority of "early readers" are either 1) incredibly little/skinny or 2) not actually for the earliest readers. So many of the new early chapter books are actually written at an upper 2nd/3rd grade reading level.......fine for them, but not for actual beginning readers!
I will be buying multiple copies of this book for my library and anticipate it never being on the shelf.
Thanks to the Kid Lit Exchange network for the review copy of this book - all opinions are my own.
BUT. We keep talking Good Fit Books this and Good Fit Books that. Blah blah blah. WELL, this is it. It's big. It's thick. It has tons of pages. BUT. THEY CAN READ IT! I field tested it with my 6 yo daughter last night and she LOVED it. She figured out all the picture clues and was able to read multiple sections to me. And as an adult, it's just plain adorable. The majority of "early readers" are either 1) incredibly little/skinny or 2) not actually for the earliest readers. So many of the new early chapter books are actually written at an upper 2nd/3rd grade reading level.......fine for them, but not for actual beginning readers!
I will be buying multiple copies of this book for my library and anticipate it never being on the shelf.
Thanks to the Kid Lit Exchange network for the review copy of this book - all opinions are my own.
March 12, 2018
This book pretty much had me at the title. I mean come on!!! A Private Eye monkey. Brilliant!
Heavy, smooth, cool to the touch pages with big, easy words and dazzlingly detailed, black & white (with dashes of red) illustrations come together to form Baby Monkey, Private Eye.
I knew this book was supposed to be a blend of picture book and easy reader styles, but I was surprised and honestly a little disappointed with the simplicity here. On one hand, it was a cute story with repeating steps to read and giggle at. And on the other hand, I did finish it and ask--That's it? I was hoping for a wee bit more hunting for clues--certainly more than our hero walking out the door and finding the culprit right there on the next page. *shrugs* A little more investigating would have been fun.
Still a cute read with an adorable PI monkey, who struggles with pants, but can solve a mystery at the drop of a hat. :D
Check it out from your local Library.
February 25, 2020
This book was so adorable and of course I love the illustrations.
February 27, 2018
This book makes my heart happy - on so many levels.
January 4, 2020
This is kind of an oddball book - 191 pages, yet meant for the youngest readers - but I thought it was adorable. (Don't panic about the page-count: most pages are either wordless, or have less than six words.) Baby Monkey solves several cases by . . . apparently following footprints, and most of the time, the culprit seems to be right outside the door to his office. I doubt that kids will care. They'll be anticipating the repetitious parts about all that Baby Monkey needs to do to get ready to solve a case (it seems to have a lot to do with how one puts on pants), and enjoying the antics.
This was all kinds of cute, and finishes strong with an "AWWWW!" ending.
This was all kinds of cute, and finishes strong with an "AWWWW!" ending.
March 2, 2018
Baby Monkey is quite the sleuth when it comes to solving crimes, although he’s not so hot at putting on his pants. The artwork of Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck) and stories by Selznick and David Serlin make this early reader book a giggle-inducing winner with its quirky pictures and large, easy-to-read text. Readers with some background knowledge will enjoy figuring out why the artifacts in Baby Monkey’s office change to fit the crime under investigation, although the back matter explains it all. Downloadable coloring pages and other activities are available from Scholastic here.
March 11, 2018
Cute, funny, easy reader with awesome illustrations. Baby Monkey, Private Eye contains five cases for Baby Monkey, who is of course a baby monkey, to solve.
This is a brilliant mash-up of picture and chapter book. The illustrations are more frequent than words and were my favorite part. Marketed to ages 3-8, this book would be a great group read to children almost ready to read and a great choice for beginning readers. The repetition of text means fewer words for young children to memorize. It also makes it a good way for children to be able to read a “big book” since Baby Monkey, Private Eye has 187 pages.
Children will have fun seeing Baby Monkey’s frequent issues with putting on his pants. They will also relate to the need for afternoon snacks and naps. If they pay close attention to the footprints in most of the cases, they should be able to solve all the cases with Baby Monkey too.
The best part (for me) is that there are several hilarious features purely for adults. Does Baby Monkey know the future? Baby Monkey’s office decorations change depending on the case. What’s amazing is that the client has yet to arrive. Adults will have fun recognizing the historic figures. There is a key in the back giving the answers. Damn you Bonnie Blue Butler for ruining my perfect score! There is also a humorous index and a funny, hopefully fictitious, bibliography.
Highly recommended for children and their adults. 5 stars!
Thanks to the publisher, Scholastic Press, and Goodreads for providing an advanced copy through the Goodreads giveaways program.
This is a brilliant mash-up of picture and chapter book. The illustrations are more frequent than words and were my favorite part. Marketed to ages 3-8, this book would be a great group read to children almost ready to read and a great choice for beginning readers. The repetition of text means fewer words for young children to memorize. It also makes it a good way for children to be able to read a “big book” since Baby Monkey, Private Eye has 187 pages.
Children will have fun seeing Baby Monkey’s frequent issues with putting on his pants. They will also relate to the need for afternoon snacks and naps. If they pay close attention to the footprints in most of the cases, they should be able to solve all the cases with Baby Monkey too.
The best part (for me) is that there are several hilarious features purely for adults. Does Baby Monkey know the future? Baby Monkey’s office decorations change depending on the case. What’s amazing is that the client has yet to arrive. Adults will have fun recognizing the historic figures. There is a key in the back giving the answers. Damn you Bonnie Blue Butler for ruining my perfect score! There is also a humorous index and a funny, hopefully fictitious, bibliography.
Highly recommended for children and their adults. 5 stars!
Thanks to the publisher, Scholastic Press, and Goodreads for providing an advanced copy through the Goodreads giveaways program.
March 25, 2018
This is kind of random, but the book before my last one also had Monkey in the title, and I liked it even less than this. Perhaps there's an embedded message?
Cute illustrations, as always in a Brian Selznick book, but this one did not work for me. Great premise: a baby monkey private detective. But, much of his cleverness is not shared with readers. Five clients come to his office to help find something stolen, and he solves the crimes one by one. But, we don't know how. Kind of disappointing actually since solving the mystery is what's fun about them. I also got really tired of the monkey's struggling to put on his pants. I liked the last two pages in which the office furnishings are identified for each mystery, but for my money, I'm sticking with the classic: Curious George. He's more colorful too.
Cute illustrations, as always in a Brian Selznick book, but this one did not work for me. Great premise: a baby monkey private detective. But, much of his cleverness is not shared with readers. Five clients come to his office to help find something stolen, and he solves the crimes one by one. But, we don't know how. Kind of disappointing actually since solving the mystery is what's fun about them. I also got really tired of the monkey's struggling to put on his pants. I liked the last two pages in which the office furnishings are identified for each mystery, but for my money, I'm sticking with the classic: Curious George. He's more colorful too.
March 5, 2018
If you've ever looked for a combo of picture book, easy reader, chapter book, graphic novel, humor-mystery, this is your book. It's almost too many things, but the experience of reading it with my four-and-a-half year old was definitely five stars.
The text is super simple and repetitive. The illustrations are almost colorless, but very detailed. As in other books by Selznick, the text and illustrations both carry a lot of story weight.
Crowning moment of the whole thing: when my child took the book to bed and proceeded to "read" it again, picking up on some of the words and thoroughly enjoying the pictures. Baby Monkey, I dub thee a success.
The text is super simple and repetitive. The illustrations are almost colorless, but very detailed. As in other books by Selznick, the text and illustrations both carry a lot of story weight.
Crowning moment of the whole thing: when my child took the book to bed and proceeded to "read" it again, picking up on some of the words and thoroughly enjoying the pictures. Baby Monkey, I dub thee a success.
July 31, 2017
Kind of adorable! I liked it but didn't love it. As a bookseller I'm not sure who I'll give this book to but I'll know them when I see them.
March 23, 2018
I read this at work when all of our systems were down, and this had just arrived. It is incredibly cute, and of course I love Brian Selznick's illustrations. I expected this to be more like a chapter book based on the size, but there are very few words and it qualifies more as a beginning reading book. It has a repetitive structure which works great for kids learning to read, and it doesn't take very long to get through. I thought the text that was present was very charming, and I loved the ending especially.
September 26, 2021
Adorable and silly, this was very fun to read and I think will be extra fun to read with our nieces.
January 9, 2019
I have read this to three classes (Kindergarten and first grade) and they were over the moon about it. The hand at the door, the tracks, the pants, they loved it all.
February 1, 2018
With a film noir vibe, minimal text, appealing plot repetition, and a few snack breaks along the way, this brilliant blend of early reader and picture book introduces one seriously adorable, wardrobe-challenged detective, Baby Monkey, who is quite the accomplished crime solver. The pants! The snacks! The scene shifts! The criminals!
Kids will appreciate the easy font and gorgeous, classically Selznick pencil sketches. Astute parents will chuckle at the clues hidden in each office scene (and those that don’t catch them will appreciate the thorough Bibliography and Index). Hard to categorize--is it a 200-page picture book? A graphic novel?--but a laugh-out-loud total win, regardless.
Kids will appreciate the easy font and gorgeous, classically Selznick pencil sketches. Astute parents will chuckle at the clues hidden in each office scene (and those that don’t catch them will appreciate the thorough Bibliography and Index). Hard to categorize--is it a 200-page picture book? A graphic novel?--but a laugh-out-loud total win, regardless.
February 27, 2018
This is damn near 5 stars. It absolutely stole my heart before we even got to the contents. A wonderful beginning reader that may look a little intimidating but will sit just right. Screaming WAIT! is my favorite, much as it is in I Am Invited to a Party! (Elephant and Piggie). Funny text, delightful illustrations that you expect from Selznick, and a super snuggly ending. An unexpected key, index, and bibliography for curious readers.
A must have for public and school libraries. Perfect for a kiddo who is still at beginning readers but wishes they were holding an easy chapter book.
A must have for public and school libraries. Perfect for a kiddo who is still at beginning readers but wishes they were holding an easy chapter book.
March 1, 2018
Superb illustrations but weak on the storytelling.
February 28, 2018
This is delightful and cute! And educational, but sneakily so.
It's a Baby! It's a Monkey! It'a Baby Monkey Private Eye! He solves crimes (maybe with his ESP??), eats snacks, and puts on pants. He has a routine and he never deviates - that's how he came to be a crack detective!
He's also an art connoisseur, as he regularly refreshes his decor with culturally relevant posters, busts, and oil paintings (with a bibliography at the end. I die)
Lovely work for early readers with his signature art style and humor!
It's a Baby! It's a Monkey! It'a Baby Monkey Private Eye! He solves crimes (maybe with his ESP??), eats snacks, and puts on pants. He has a routine and he never deviates - that's how he came to be a crack detective!
He's also an art connoisseur, as he regularly refreshes his decor with culturally relevant posters, busts, and oil paintings (with a bibliography at the end. I die)
Lovely work for early readers with his signature art style and humor!
March 2, 2018
what a fun beginning reader book with the beautiful illustrations of Brian Selznick!
March 2, 2018
Brian Selznick is one of my favorite authors.
His new book about Baby Monkey doesn't disappoint.
Abound with his gorgeous illustrations, readers of any age will enjoy this one.
His new book about Baby Monkey doesn't disappoint.
Abound with his gorgeous illustrations, readers of any age will enjoy this one.
February 21, 2018
This is a deceptive little book for very early readers. Follow the case files of Baby Monkey as puts an end to the crime wave that has struck. As with any Selznick book the pictures are part of the narrative. This is an important feature of this books, as it asks the early reader to stay with page a little longer, enforcing early literacy skills, with or without your pants.
addendum: I read this at work, laughed, aww-ed, just a bit, and then wrote the review and then....I saw the index!!! And the picture key!!! Just Wow!
addendum: I read this at work, laughed, aww-ed, just a bit, and then wrote the review and then....I saw the index!!! And the picture key!!! Just Wow!
April 2, 2018
It's hard to find a place for this book. It's an interesting format that has picture book qualities, but is broken up into chapters like juvenile fiction. BUT defining the book is neither here nor there, what is important is reading the book.
I cannot even begin to tell you how much I loved this book. I got the goofiest grin reading this book. The number of ways Baby Monkey can put his pants on wrong is impressive and hilarious. The number of ways Selznick changes up the office each time a new chapter begins is pure genius. I had to go back and re-read the book a second time just to find all the nuances in the drawings.
I want there to be a million more Baby Monkey adventures.
I cannot even begin to tell you how much I loved this book. I got the goofiest grin reading this book. The number of ways Baby Monkey can put his pants on wrong is impressive and hilarious. The number of ways Selznick changes up the office each time a new chapter begins is pure genius. I had to go back and re-read the book a second time just to find all the nuances in the drawings.
I want there to be a million more Baby Monkey adventures.
June 17, 2018
My own children redeemed this book for me because my initial gut-reaction was one of confusion. I didn't understand the hype. Although I will say, I have never been wowed by Selznick the storyteller. Selznick the artist is undoubtedly a talent, but his stories have always underwhelmed me. After sitting my own children down and reading this with them, I realized that it works very, very well for the intended audience. But I think that intended audience may be smaller than people think. My 8-year-old stared at me with a WTF raised eyebrow look through most of the reading, but in the end said it was good. Clever even. My 6-year-old and 2-year-old enjoyed it. My son began guessing the culprits each chapter by the tracks and my daughter loved pointing out the addition of the color red in the illustrations. A second time through, my oldest even pointed out the animals in Baby Monkey's crib on the final page, a detail that I had missed twice! I will say, none of them laughed at Baby Monkey putting on his pants though. In fact, after the second or third attempt at putting on his pants, my son actually groaned, "Again!"
There's something about this that reminds me of Princess Cora and the Crocodile in that it attempts to blend elements of different genres and types but in the end, confuses me as to why. Based on text and concept alone, the audience for this is very, very young. Yet, the structure of chapters and the sophistication in the illustrations seem to add appeal for older readers, concepts that the general audience for this won't get or appreciate. Heck, the historical references in the items in Baby Monkey's office are so obscure most adults wouldn't get them either.
My gut-reaction was a 2-star rating. My kids' reaction made it a 4-star rating. I'm falling in the middle somewhere.
There's something about this that reminds me of Princess Cora and the Crocodile in that it attempts to blend elements of different genres and types but in the end, confuses me as to why. Based on text and concept alone, the audience for this is very, very young. Yet, the structure of chapters and the sophistication in the illustrations seem to add appeal for older readers, concepts that the general audience for this won't get or appreciate. Heck, the historical references in the items in Baby Monkey's office are so obscure most adults wouldn't get them either.
My gut-reaction was a 2-star rating. My kids' reaction made it a 4-star rating. I'm falling in the middle somewhere.
January 20, 2020
Ik vond Brian Selznick's eerste boeken erg leuk, toen kwamen De Marvels en die vond ik niks. Helaas moet ik zeggen dat dit boek hele mooie tekeningen heeft, maar verder echt niet spannend is en zelfs een beetje saai. De meeste verhaaltjes gaan als volgt: Aapje leest een boek dat bij het verhaal past, aapje krijgt een klant, aapje doet moeilijk met een broek aan doen (wat eerst nog lief en grappig was maar na 3 keer gewoon vervelend), aapje gaat sporen en aantekeningen doen, aapje loopt naar buiten en mysterie opgelost want blijkbaar zit de crimineel buiten zijn kantoor of zo? Erg jammer. Misschien als we nog een spannende tocht hadden op zoek naar de crimineel had ik het leuk gevonden, maar nu? Meh. Aapje was wel een schatje en ik vond het leuk dat hij een detective was. Ook de tekeningen waren dus erg mooi en daarom geef ik het boek ook een hogere rating dan dat ik misschien had gedaan als de art minder was of totaal niet aanwezig.
Het laatste hoofdstuk was mijn favoriet want er gebeurde eens wat anders en het was erg lief.
Maar zou ik dit aanraden? Niet echt.
Het laatste hoofdstuk was mijn favoriet want er gebeurde eens wat anders en het was erg lief.
Maar zou ik dit aanraden? Niet echt.
May 1, 2018
I had mixed feelings about this book. On the negative side, I got irritated by the whole repetitive pants episodes. I realize kids likely would disagree, but there you are. I realize they are a clear, funny challenge, but really, more than 3 times was too many for the joke. Also, the baby is a monkey, pretty bright. How come he hasn't used his brains to figure out the pants business? In terms of mysteries, I found them illogical. There was no indication as to why the answer led to the various culprits who were discovered. On the positive side, it was funny, and a lot of subtle information was slipped in via objects in Baby Monkey's office. I appreciate the key in the back because I'd have missed a lot of the objects' significance otherwise. The illustrations were better than the text but the text does make it accessible for beginning readers. I definitely didn't love it but it is good. 3 stars.
November 4, 2017
Interesting to see Selznick's unique style of storytelling in book for younger readers. Simple, repetitive text and adorable illustrations make this a great book for beginning readers but a lot of the concepts and the appeal make it fine for older readers as well. Be sure to check out the back matter. As always, Selznick peppers the narrative/illustrations with cultural references. This book will provide a bit of a conundrum for collection development professionals - where does one put this? I've advocated at my library system to put it in the juvenile graphic novel collection. I think it's the best place for it.
October 28, 2017
The simple, repetitive language is perfect for kids who are just starting to read on their own. As with any Selznick book, though, at least half of the story unfolds in the illustrations. At the start of each of Baby Monkey's investigations, the decorations in his office change to feature people, things, and events related to the missing item. The index in the back can be used to create a game of seek-and-find within the illustrations and, paired with the bibliography, provides a great starting place for further discussion and exploration of topics such as circuses and space flight.
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