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Curious George and Friends: Favorite Stories
A collection of eight classic stories by the creators of the Curious George tales includes entries starring Curious George as well as other characters, all with their own wonderful personalities. 50,000 first printing.
- GenresChildrensPicture Books
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
19 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Margret Rey
234 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 22, 2022
Spotty is woke, Pretzel is a stalker, and a few other things that haven’t aged well… 😂 But some cute stories, too…
January 5, 2013
A whole bunch of stories by the Reys, only the first two include Curious George. It's cute and fun, and the sort of book that might not be published in its form.
In the original Curious George, George has a smoke and feels better. And the Man in the Yellow Hat catches George in a pretty sneaky way. The MYH is far more clever than he is in that recent Curious George movie.
But my favorite story in the collection was about a carnivorous plant named Elizabite. Very unique, fun, and just a little dark. (But don't take my word for it... )
In the original Curious George, George has a smoke and feels better. And the Man in the Yellow Hat catches George in a pretty sneaky way. The MYH is far more clever than he is in that recent Curious George movie.
But my favorite story in the collection was about a carnivorous plant named Elizabite. Very unique, fun, and just a little dark. (But don't take my word for it... )
March 1, 2012
Cute little stories...I am sure that my nephews will love these.
March 13, 2013
A collection of all the friends, Katy No-Pocket, Spotty,Billy's Picture, and Elizabite, to name a few. There is always something funny going on.
August 10, 2016
We enjoyed all of these stories. They included:
Curious George
Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys
Elizabite
Pretzel
Katy No-Pocket
Spotty
Billy's Picture
Whiteblack the Penguin Sees the World
Curious George
Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys
Elizabite
Pretzel
Katy No-Pocket
Spotty
Billy's Picture
Whiteblack the Penguin Sees the World
January 1, 2023
Great book to Read Aloud at bedtime.
Read
April 13, 2019I have always loved the Curious George stories -- my special favorite was Curious George Rides a Bike. So I was thrilled when I found this collection of stories by Margaret & H.A. Rey, but that soon turned to disappointment. I really wanted to give it a good review, but I couldn't. I may be taking things out of context because these are old stories -- but I didn't care for them and here is why...
CURIOUS GEORGE -- a monkey is "kidnapped" from the jungle, taken to the city, given cigars to smoke, ends up in jail, etc. Skip this one and read the others in the series, they are much better.
CECILY G. AND THE 9 MONKEYS -- a lonely giraffe is looking for friends and comes across nine monkeys who love to play games. However, the nine monkeys want to play games that seem to be at Cecily G.'s expense
ELIZABITE - a carnivorous plant that causes problems for everyone -- it reminds me of Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors. The end of the story shows the Mother plant with four baby plants that don't belong around people.
PRETZEL - a special dashshund by the name of Pretzel grows and grows and becomes the longest dashshund around. He falls in love with Gretta who won't have anything to do with him because she doesn't like long dogs. So she is a little prejudice because how he looks.
KATY NO-POCKET -- This story was ok showing a mother kangaroo that can't carry her baby because she doesn't have a pocket like other kangaroos - she finds a carpenter's apron with lots of pockets in the city -- so happy ending to an OK story
SPOTTY -- this one has major prejudice story line with a black spotted rabbit being hidden by his all white family so he runs away from home and finds a spotted rabbit family that hides its all white baby rabbit
BILLY'S PICTURE -- OK story about art and what happens when people don't listen and do what they want to instead.
WHITEBLACK THE PENGUIN SEES THE WORLD -- I didn't even finish this one
Sorry if I busted your bubble -- the were probably just fine when they were written and maybe still are for today's readers -- just not me.
CURIOUS GEORGE -- a monkey is "kidnapped" from the jungle, taken to the city, given cigars to smoke, ends up in jail, etc. Skip this one and read the others in the series, they are much better.
CECILY G. AND THE 9 MONKEYS -- a lonely giraffe is looking for friends and comes across nine monkeys who love to play games. However, the nine monkeys want to play games that seem to be at Cecily G.'s expense
ELIZABITE - a carnivorous plant that causes problems for everyone -- it reminds me of Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors. The end of the story shows the Mother plant with four baby plants that don't belong around people.
PRETZEL - a special dashshund by the name of Pretzel grows and grows and becomes the longest dashshund around. He falls in love with Gretta who won't have anything to do with him because she doesn't like long dogs. So she is a little prejudice because how he looks.
KATY NO-POCKET -- This story was ok showing a mother kangaroo that can't carry her baby because she doesn't have a pocket like other kangaroos - she finds a carpenter's apron with lots of pockets in the city -- so happy ending to an OK story
SPOTTY -- this one has major prejudice story line with a black spotted rabbit being hidden by his all white family so he runs away from home and finds a spotted rabbit family that hides its all white baby rabbit
BILLY'S PICTURE -- OK story about art and what happens when people don't listen and do what they want to instead.
WHITEBLACK THE PENGUIN SEES THE WORLD -- I didn't even finish this one
Sorry if I busted your bubble -- the were probably just fine when they were written and maybe still are for today's readers -- just not me.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews