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Curious George New Adventures
Curious George's Dinosaur Discovery
Curious George loves dinosaurs, so he’s excited to visit a dig to look for real dinosaur bones. Will the curious little monkey help make a big discovery?
24 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
13 people are currently reading
188 people want to read
About the author
Margret Rey
233 books121 followersMargret Elizabeth Rey (May 16, 1906 – December 21, 1996), born Margarete Elisabeth Waldstein, was (with her husband H. A. Rey), the co-author and illustrator of children's books, best known for their Curious George
Although she was born in Germany, she fled to Brazil early in her life to escape Nazism. While there, she met her future husband Hans (who was a salesman and also from Germany). They married in 1935 and moved to Paris, France that same year.
While in Paris, Hans's animal drawings came to the attention of French publisher, who commissioned him to write a children's book. The result, Rafi and the Nine Monkeys, is little remembered today, but one of its characters, an adorably impish monkey named Curious George, was such a success that the couple considered writing a book just about him. Their work was interrupted with the outbreak of World War II. As Jews, the Reys decided to flee Paris before the Nazis seized the city. Hans built two bicycles, and they fled Paris just a few hours before it fell. Among the meager possessions they brought with them was the illustrated manuscript of Curious George.
The Reys' odyssey brought them to the Spanish border, where they bought train tickets to Lisbon. From there they returned to Brazil, where they had met five years earlier, but this time they continued to New York, New York. The books were published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941, though certain changes had to be introduced because of the technology of the time. Hans and Margret originally planned to use watercolors to illustrate the books, but since they were responsible for the color separation, he changed these to the cartoon-like images that continue to feature in each of the books. (A collector's edition with the original watercolors was recently released.)
Curious George was an instant success, and the Reys were commissioned to write more adventures of the mischievous monkey and his friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. They wrote seven stories in all, with Hans mainly doing the illustrations and Margret working mostly on the stories, though they both admitted to sharing the work and cooperating fully in every stage of development. At first, however, Margret's name was left off the cover, ostensibly because there was a glut of women already writing children's fiction. In later editions, this was corrected, and Margret now receives full credit for her role in developing the stories.
Margret and her husband moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, in a house close to Harvard Square. Following her husband's death in 1977, Margret continued writing, and in 1979, became a Professor of Creative Writing at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Starting in 1980, she also began to collaborate with Alan Shalleck on a series of short films featuring Curious George and more than two dozen additional books.
In 1989 Margret Rey established the Curious George Foundation to help creative children and prevent cruelty to animals. In 1996, she made major donations to the Boston Public Library and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She was also a long-time supporter of the Longy School of Music. The Reys spent twenty summers in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, to enable H.A. Rey to better observe the stars for his astronomy writing. They became an integral part of the Waterville community and their legacy is honored by The Margret and H.A. Rey Center and the Curious George Cottage located there.
Dr. Lena Y. de Grummond, a professor in the field of library science (specializing in children's literature) at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss. contacted the Reys in 1966 about the university's new children's literature collection. H.A. and Margret made a donation of a pair of sketches at the time. In 1996, after Margret's death, it was revealed in her will that the entire literary estate of the Reys were to be donated to the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at Southern Miss.
Although she was born in Germany, she fled to Brazil early in her life to escape Nazism. While there, she met her future husband Hans (who was a salesman and also from Germany). They married in 1935 and moved to Paris, France that same year.
While in Paris, Hans's animal drawings came to the attention of French publisher, who commissioned him to write a children's book. The result, Rafi and the Nine Monkeys, is little remembered today, but one of its characters, an adorably impish monkey named Curious George, was such a success that the couple considered writing a book just about him. Their work was interrupted with the outbreak of World War II. As Jews, the Reys decided to flee Paris before the Nazis seized the city. Hans built two bicycles, and they fled Paris just a few hours before it fell. Among the meager possessions they brought with them was the illustrated manuscript of Curious George.
The Reys' odyssey brought them to the Spanish border, where they bought train tickets to Lisbon. From there they returned to Brazil, where they had met five years earlier, but this time they continued to New York, New York. The books were published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941, though certain changes had to be introduced because of the technology of the time. Hans and Margret originally planned to use watercolors to illustrate the books, but since they were responsible for the color separation, he changed these to the cartoon-like images that continue to feature in each of the books. (A collector's edition with the original watercolors was recently released.)
Curious George was an instant success, and the Reys were commissioned to write more adventures of the mischievous monkey and his friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. They wrote seven stories in all, with Hans mainly doing the illustrations and Margret working mostly on the stories, though they both admitted to sharing the work and cooperating fully in every stage of development. At first, however, Margret's name was left off the cover, ostensibly because there was a glut of women already writing children's fiction. In later editions, this was corrected, and Margret now receives full credit for her role in developing the stories.
Margret and her husband moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, in a house close to Harvard Square. Following her husband's death in 1977, Margret continued writing, and in 1979, became a Professor of Creative Writing at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Starting in 1980, she also began to collaborate with Alan Shalleck on a series of short films featuring Curious George and more than two dozen additional books.
In 1989 Margret Rey established the Curious George Foundation to help creative children and prevent cruelty to animals. In 1996, she made major donations to the Boston Public Library and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She was also a long-time supporter of the Longy School of Music. The Reys spent twenty summers in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, to enable H.A. Rey to better observe the stars for his astronomy writing. They became an integral part of the Waterville community and their legacy is honored by The Margret and H.A. Rey Center and the Curious George Cottage located there.
Dr. Lena Y. de Grummond, a professor in the field of library science (specializing in children's literature) at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss. contacted the Reys in 1966 about the university's new children's literature collection. H.A. and Margret made a donation of a pair of sketches at the time. In 1996, after Margret's death, it was revealed in her will that the entire literary estate of the Reys were to be donated to the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at Southern Miss.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
December 29, 2018
I get armloads of these little paperbacks whenever I'm at my favorite thrift store. They have children's books for just a few cents a piece and I grab just about everything. This one is pretty cute. I never read Curious George as a child but baby boy loves the books and the tv show. This volume is the perfect size for bedtime, but has extra activities to extend the learning.
June 27, 2025
Cute story about managing frustration and how sometimes accidents can have happy outcomes.
May 25, 2025
The Science Museum lets the Man in the Yellow Hat invite himself and his monkey on a paleontology dig, despite an abundance of evidence that the monkey causes damage and/or risk of grave bodily harm wherever he visits. Geez, does tMitYH fund the place? Is he some S&P500 CEO's son living large off stock?
George has no patience for sifting dirt for fossils, takes other people's tools and uses them without permission, kicks up dust causing others to cough, climbs onto and knocks over a wheelbarrow, runs away when working scientists try to stop him, and causes a landslide that could have hurt someone, but it reveals a seemingly-complete dinosaur skeleton when they'd found nothing up to that point, so they're happy! Hooray for George! He even gets this new type of dinosaur named after himself.
My 2-year-old loves George and happily she doesn't seem to be taking these dubious morals to heart.
George has no patience for sifting dirt for fossils, takes other people's tools and uses them without permission, kicks up dust causing others to cough, climbs onto and knocks over a wheelbarrow, runs away when working scientists try to stop him, and causes a landslide that could have hurt someone, but it reveals a seemingly-complete dinosaur skeleton when they'd found nothing up to that point, so they're happy! Hooray for George! He even gets this new type of dinosaur named after himself.
My 2-year-old loves George and happily she doesn't seem to be taking these dubious morals to heart.
February 24, 2019
Curious George loves going to the dinosaur museum, but this time is gets a surprise and heads to an archaeology dig with The Man with the Yellow Hat to look for new dinosaur bones. But as always George's curiosity gets him into trouble...but he always seems to come out good in the end.
Pretty good story and should appeal to any dinosaur lovers. This edition has a bonus word jumble and finger puppets in the back.
Pretty good story and should appeal to any dinosaur lovers. This edition has a bonus word jumble and finger puppets in the back.
December 28, 2018
Curious George exercises no perseverance, no patience, starts taking other people's things and using them without permission, kicks up dust inconsiderately causing other people to cough, climbs onto and knocks over someone's wheelbarrow, runs away when he gets in trouble, and without any work or effort stumbles upon dinosaur bones.
April 25, 2020
After a long day of studying and writing, I decided to unwind with a childhood classic. As a child I loved both Curious George and dinosaurs, so seeing this advertised by Hoopla as a free download that wouldn’t count towards my monthly limit seemed like perfect timing. And, of course, I loved it. Curious George is just the cutest, and this is a very sweet little story.
October 21, 2021
This was a quick read that I read to my first grade class. They thought that this was a funny book. I thought that it is just like a few of the other books that I have read. This is a good book for younger kids. This is also an AR book for anyone who might want to know. I would recommend this book to other Curious George loving readers.
March 16, 2025
The illustrations in this book are by Anna Grossnickle Hines.
In this adventure with Curious George - he and his friend - the man in the yellow hat - go to the Dinorsuar Museum. Next they go to a dig - where people are looking for dinosaurs. George helps - in his George way.
The result is that he finds a dinosaur and gets to see it displayed at the Museum.
In this adventure with Curious George - he and his friend - the man in the yellow hat - go to the Dinorsuar Museum. Next they go to a dig - where people are looking for dinosaurs. George helps - in his George way.
The result is that he finds a dinosaur and gets to see it displayed at the Museum.
July 4, 2017
Pretty standarrd "George" fare, but neverthrless a pleasant read. The kids did enjoy watching George make his discovery, but they were maybe a little disappointed he didn't get into more trouble first. Still, it was a good book to include in our unit on dinosaurs.
February 4, 2023
Though the plots follow the same pattern (George is naughty but in the end he helps out), they were better reads than I expected.
Maddie liked that it was about dinosaurs and I enjoyed telling the girls about the archaeological digs I went on in university.
Maddie liked that it was about dinosaurs and I enjoyed telling the girls about the archaeological digs I went on in university.
February 13, 2018
A typical book for the series of a curious monkey. My son loved it.
May 6, 2018
The man with the yellow hat takes George to a dig site. At first, George is always in the way and messing things up, but his blunder unearths a colossal fossil that gets named after him.
February 20, 2019
Ages 3-6.
April 29, 2019
Great book series about a curious monkey.
February 25, 2020
I do an opinion writing with this assignment each year.
March 10, 2020
George found it!
May 19, 2020
The trouble-making monkey is back and this time he inadvertently uncovers a dinosaur.
March 8, 2021
Israel things Curious George is a pretty cool monkey to read about. This is an adventure at the museum and also out in the field digging up dinosaur bones. Great books for beginning readers!
February 8, 2023
Very cute.
July 1, 2023
A fun story of George working with scientists to find dinosaur bones.
March 15, 2017
My two year old loves these books. Already I've read this one to him five times.
April 13, 2019
We love Curious George books!
May 5, 2016
The genre of this book is a picture book intended for the age of 4 to 6 year olds. The book details the adventures of Curious George when he is digging for dinosaur bones with scientists from the museum. George becomes curious, accidentally causes a rockslide, and as a result, he uncovers dinosaur bones. I rated this book as a 3 because while it was engaging, I did not think it was anything special or anything that stood out from the norm. It was a simple, but effective story. I liked that it had very clear events that children could understand. I think children that like Curious George will enjoy this book. I am not sure children that are not familiar with him will find the book very engaging. The plot was simple and easy to follow. I thought the text was appropriate for the intended audience. The illustrations were typical of Curious George books, simple, but nothing elaborate or flashy. I think this book is useful for practicing sequencing events with children as it had a very clear sequence of events. I think this book is a good starting point for children learning to sequence events as it has a very uncomplicated sequence of events. I think this book would be appealing to young readers because Curious George is pretty popular and as such, his stories are motivating and engaging effortlessly.
September 11, 2012
FIVE STARS!!
I thought this story was very creative and cute!
This was very creative way to send a simple message to children. By having Curious George discover the dinosaur bones after spending a lot of time sifting through dirt shows that you can accomplish anything if you don't give up. He spent much of his day working with other adults digging and sifting dirt for dinosaur bones and eventually discovered a dinosaur! This book also shows that museums aren't just educational, but fun as well! Many children think that museums are boring, but when they read a story like this, it may make them look forward to going to the museum (as well as other places such as a library!)
Creative, cute story! I enjoyed it very much!
I thought this story was very creative and cute!
This was very creative way to send a simple message to children. By having Curious George discover the dinosaur bones after spending a lot of time sifting through dirt shows that you can accomplish anything if you don't give up. He spent much of his day working with other adults digging and sifting dirt for dinosaur bones and eventually discovered a dinosaur! This book also shows that museums aren't just educational, but fun as well! Many children think that museums are boring, but when they read a story like this, it may make them look forward to going to the museum (as well as other places such as a library!)
Creative, cute story! I enjoyed it very much!
September 16, 2012
Case:Cardboard yellow Endpages is plain blue which comlements the illustration int he book
This book is a small book and would be liked by a variety of childeren. The book was very diversed by addind featuers and characters of many races. It's funny because george is a monkey who is very curious like many children. He has a white male friend who takes him to visit the dinosaur museum and after that adventure they go to a location to look for bones. The illustartor used saturated colors which evoked excitement. This book is good for toodlers ages two to five.I enjoyed this book.
This book is a small book and would be liked by a variety of childeren. The book was very diversed by addind featuers and characters of many races. It's funny because george is a monkey who is very curious like many children. He has a white male friend who takes him to visit the dinosaur museum and after that adventure they go to a location to look for bones. The illustartor used saturated colors which evoked excitement. This book is good for toodlers ages two to five.I enjoyed this book.
July 28, 2016
Synopsis: "Curious George loves dinosaurs, so he’s excited to visit a dig to look for real dinosaur bones. Will the curious little monkey help make a big discovery?"
My Review: This is the first Curious George book Munchkin has enjoyed in some time. He loved talking about how George was digging in the sand and about the dinosaur bones. It sparked some questions and a desire to go to the museum to see some for himself. It is always great when a book sparks additional learning opportunities!
My Review: This is the first Curious George book Munchkin has enjoyed in some time. He loved talking about how George was digging in the sand and about the dinosaur bones. It sparked some questions and a desire to go to the museum to see some for himself. It is always great when a book sparks additional learning opportunities!
August 6, 2009
...Read this to my sister's baby-in-the-womb...(I had picked it up a few years ago at the National Museum of Natural History, where I work, because it referenced a Dinosaur Museum.) Messages I liked: Serendipity sometimes precedes a scientific discovery; and, scientists are mixed in gender and ethnicity. Now, our band of emigrants from West Virginia realize a quest must begin to find enrichment books fit for what will surely be a radical, genius baby :).....The Quest Is On!
April 1, 2012
This would be a great book to read at the beginning of a unit on fossils to 2-3 graders. I believe that it would help to get the student engaged in what they are about to learn. I would bring in different fossils and have the students look at them and see if they are able to identify the animal, rock or thing that made made the fossil. I would also have the students make cast and fossils out of playdoh.
April 19, 2012
The Man in the Yellow Hat is taking George on a trip to the Dinosaur Museum. But this is not just any trip. He surprises George by taking him to a rocky quarry where scientist are searching for read dinosaur bones. After Georges curiosity leads him into mischief he ends up making a hug discovery. George finds dinosaur bones! This book is great to tie into a science lesson. It is also great for sequencing.
May 12, 2017
Curious George is at it again---causing trouble because of the fact that he is so curious. One day, the man with the yellow hat takes George to a fossil dig. When George tries to help, he ends up making a mess of the excavation. While trying to run away, he causes a rock slide that uncovers a never before discovered dinosaur. The new dinosaur is placed in the museum George and the man with the yellow hat frequent. It is named the Georgosaurus. Nice illustrations and a nice story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews