Monkeys and Dog Days

Monkeys #1

by Kate Banks, Tomek Bogacki (Illustrator)

Max and his older brother, Pete, are getting a dog. A dog needs to be played with. That’s the fun part. But a dog also needs to be fed, bathed, and walked. Max and Pete promise to share the responsibilities. But when Fudge comes to live with them, it isn’t long before Pete decides that a dog is more work than he thought, and Max discovers that there are unexpected rewards for being the dependable one.


With simple yet lyrical language and bright illustrations, Kate Banks and Tomek Bogacki team up to introduce Monkey Readers, a new series for beginning readers who like to monkey around.

Genres: Childrens

48 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2008

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

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a really good dog !!!!!!!!!!

[Montague · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was about monkeys trying to get a dog. Some were too big, some were too sleepy, some were too playful and then they find the right one. but it's hard to take care of. They teached the dog how to sit and roll and be good. This book was good and the doggy was cute. (age 7)

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Banks Vault #27
Monkeys #1
A family of Monkeys wants to get a dog....
Of course they do.
Quite word filled book, more of a short chapter book than a picture book.
Decent story despite the weird premise.

[Brandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pete and Max want a dog, so their parents bring home a book about the work involved in owning a pet. After considering all the chores a puppy brings, the family goes to the shelter to pick out their new puppy. At first, Pete and Max share the tasks equally, but as time goes on, Pete gets busy in his own projects and caught up with his friends, and Max ends up pulling his older brother's weight. Ultimately the dog likes Max better, and when Pete finally notices, Pete resolves to be a better dog owner.

As a story, it's passable--not great, but decent. It's a good choice to give young kids who want a dog of their own, though, in place of or in addition to the non-fiction books on the same topic. The story jumps around disjointedly, and the muted color palette of the illustrations won't send this title flying off the shelves. It will appeal to some kids with hand-selling, but there are plenty of better books out there.

(Phew! I have something to bring to the review group Thursday!)

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

illustrated by Tomek Bogacki

I thought the lines in the pictures weren't so clear, so any clues that the reader might get from looking at the pictures is a little more difficult in this book. I didn't like the incorporation of dog saying here, I just don't know how beneficial that are to the development of a child's reading ability. i.e. 'It's a dog life' 'in the dog house' (that picture was particularly weird because the protagonist monkey was in the dog house and the dog was looking forlorn outside of the doghouse??? And dog days of summer explanation of Sirius the dog star?

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute enough reader. Nother spectacular but that is hard. This would be great for a kid whose family is about to adopt a pet. It tells kids what you need to do to take care of a pet. The brothers are nice but Max is a little too good. As a younger sibiling I was jealous but doing chores is not how I handled it. Grades 2+

[Christi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book with a moral -- about the challenges and responsibilities of having a dog. I have no problem with that, but the story isn't terribly engaging and there are some rather big strange words for this age level, I think.

[Amy Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second grade reader, beginning chapters, about Monkeys who get a pet dog and realize everything involved in pet care. AR 2.7

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good lesson about how dogs develop loyalty.

[Roxanne Hsu Feldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This promises to be a solid new series with clear writing and friendly illustrations.

[Melissa Morgal]

Good book! This is a good chapter book to keep in the classroom. The book does a good job explaining the relationship between a dog and it's owner.