skullossus's review
5.0
Spoliers ahead:
In past books, Curious George lived in the zoo, and wanted to escape his prison place pretty fast. But here George is pretty cool with animals, even intelligent whales, being incarcerated. That's a good lesson: it is really hard to empathize with others. Once you've overcome your obstacles, it's easy to ignore other people's struggle with the same problem. Especially when they don't look like you. These are marine animals, not even land animals. How's George supposed to relate?
At the aquarium, George discovers a low tank of water and can't read the “do not touch” sign on it. Of course he douses his hand and gets snapped by a crab. Ouch! You might wonder, Why would the aquarium have made a table that looks like a petting zoo for fish, but put crabs in it? Well, like many questions in life, it will go unanswered. Not only does George remain Curious, so do YOU! What an interactive book!!!
Then George visits the penguins. On page 17 there is a great ellipsis “A crowd gathered and laughed. But when George slid on his belly like a penguin...” Can you guess what comes next? Well you have to. Because on page 18 it just switches to “The aquarium staff stopped by to check on the penguins.” There's no resolution to what appeared to be hilarious belly-bogganing. Another way for YOU to be curious! What fun!
To get out of the penguin enclosure, George opened a door. But you know who's faster than a monkey in trouble? Half a dozen penguins who can smell sweet freedom on the other side. They get out before George. Then George, who remains in the enclosure, saves a baby penguin from falling into the water. Which presumably is a good thing? Although, the internet seems to think that emperor penguin chicks have downy feathers that keep them buoyant in water, so is George even saving the baby? That's another great lesson: Don't look facts up on the internet or they will ruin the enjoyment of reading an exciting tale of daring rescue!
George inspired and enabled the penguins to escape while abandoning their chick, and yet is rewarded for saving the day by the humans. That's like throwing ninja stars into a crowd and then everyone cheering when you administer first aid to someone you missed. Kids love nonsense stories, and this is no exception. Nice job!
It's weird that the penguins rush out of the enclosure without taking their children with them, but I figured out that's just a lesson about how incarceration can mess with your priorities. When you've been caged up for so long, you'll turn on your own family for a chance at freedom.
Once again, Vipah Interactive does a killer job with the watercolour illustrations. I like the bold choice to interpret the text “It was darker inside” as meaning “All white backgrounds, please!”
In past books, Curious George lived in the zoo, and wanted to escape his prison place pretty fast. But here George is pretty cool with animals, even intelligent whales, being incarcerated. That's a good lesson: it is really hard to empathize with others. Once you've overcome your obstacles, it's easy to ignore other people's struggle with the same problem. Especially when they don't look like you. These are marine animals, not even land animals. How's George supposed to relate?
At the aquarium, George discovers a low tank of water and can't read the “do not touch” sign on it. Of course he douses his hand and gets snapped by a crab. Ouch! You might wonder, Why would the aquarium have made a table that looks like a petting zoo for fish, but put crabs in it? Well, like many questions in life, it will go unanswered. Not only does George remain Curious, so do YOU! What an interactive book!!!
Then George visits the penguins. On page 17 there is a great ellipsis “A crowd gathered and laughed. But when George slid on his belly like a penguin...” Can you guess what comes next? Well you have to. Because on page 18 it just switches to “The aquarium staff stopped by to check on the penguins.” There's no resolution to what appeared to be hilarious belly-bogganing. Another way for YOU to be curious! What fun!
To get out of the penguin enclosure, George opened a door. But you know who's faster than a monkey in trouble? Half a dozen penguins who can smell sweet freedom on the other side. They get out before George. Then George, who remains in the enclosure, saves a baby penguin from falling into the water. Which presumably is a good thing? Although, the internet seems to think that emperor penguin chicks have downy feathers that keep them buoyant in water, so is George even saving the baby? That's another great lesson: Don't look facts up on the internet or they will ruin the enjoyment of reading an exciting tale of daring rescue!
George inspired and enabled the penguins to escape while abandoning their chick, and yet is rewarded for saving the day by the humans. That's like throwing ninja stars into a crowd and then everyone cheering when you administer first aid to someone you missed. Kids love nonsense stories, and this is no exception. Nice job!
It's weird that the penguins rush out of the enclosure without taking their children with them, but I figured out that's just a lesson about how incarceration can mess with your priorities. When you've been caged up for so long, you'll turn on your own family for a chance at freedom.
Once again, Vipah Interactive does a killer job with the watercolour illustrations. I like the bold choice to interpret the text “It was darker inside” as meaning “All white backgrounds, please!”
librarianryan's review
4.0
I love how timeless Curious George to any age reader. This time he decided to help feed the seals, but he feeds them for the wrong tank and ends up the star of the show. It’s a simple story that does not age and makes a reader feel young again. I don't remember what “best of” list this title came from, but it deserves to be on them all.
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