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When the monkey George sees a man with a yellow hat entering his jungle, his curiosity leads him into being captured and taken to America.  On board the ship and upon arriving in America, his curiosity leads him into trouble again and again, but the man with the yellow hat is always there to bail him out.

George’s mischievous, adventurous approach to life (balanced by his friend’s comforting and steadying presence) has made him popular with generations of children since the first book was published in 1941 by Margret and H.A. Rey.  (You can read an interesting history of the books and authors here.)  According to Margret Rey, part of the books’ appeal is that “George can do what kids can’t do. He can paint a room from the inside. He can hang from a kite in the sky. He can let the animals out of their pens on the farm. He can do all these naughty things that kids would like to do.”  I would add that while children will enjoy the vicarious thrill of watching George’s antics, they have no trouble understanding that his often-foolish actions are inappropriate for themselves.  If anything, he provides an example of how not to act.

All the original Curious George books are good, but like many other classic children’s series, it has a number of poor-quality sequels.  I recommend only the original seven.

Mary Miner and Christopher Gonzalez (age 2), January 2008