Monkey Not Ready for the Baby

Reviewed by: Sheila Dube - Springvale Public Library, Springvale, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 9, 2017

Review

Monkey likes being the youngest and resists the notion that a new baby will take the spot light soon. Mommy and Daddy do all the things parents do to prepare their children for a new sibling including, reading books, talking about it, and taking him to hear the baby's heartbeat. Only when Monkey holds his new baby sister does he feel ready for the new role of big brother. There is nothing new in this story about getting a new sibling, but fans of Marc Brown will notice some new changes in the illustrations. This family of monkeys shows more expression and the backgrounds show a soft busyness compared to the flat folk art style of his popular works about Arthur. Brown has created all the lettering for the text and the background's lines, squiggles and swirls done with colored pencils and gouache provide frames and integration of the text with the emotion of the characters.

Overall Book Score: good