Monkey and Me

"Emily Gravett is one of my favourite illustrators and authors. This book is different from the others that I have selected because it is a story. It’s a very simple and repetitive story and if you break down the language in it there are not a lot of words used. It’s about a little girl who has a toy monkey. She says “monkey and me, monkey and me we went to see…” and on the next page is the animal they go to see. Emily’s got a wonderful way of using the space on the page. Once you’ve read it, you realise that the girl is copying the actions of the animal they are off to see. For example, when it’s kangaroo, she’s tucked monkey down her t-shirt like in a pouch. At the end she goes home to eat but she falls asleep and there’s an actual monkey who steals her banana. So it’s got a fun element to it and the drawings are wonderful. I’ve got three grandchildren and it’s been a firm favourite with all of them. Recently I’ve been reading it to the 18 month old and she loves it. It’s not too long a story, so when babies get a little bit older they will sit and listen to it. You can make it exciting by making noises and movements for the animals. Or it can be read very quietly and slowly, and that repetitive language is very calming so you can read it at bedtime. It’s a lovely book to read at the end of the day when you want to wind them down before they go to bed. Sometimes when I’m reading to the younger children I have to remember that I’m trying to get them relaxed and not wind them up, and this book you can do both with. It’s just a lovely book to read aloud. It is, and identifying animals. Like most baby books, if you look beyond the words there’s a lot you can do with them."