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Over 2000 libraries have H. A. Rey's Curious George Learns the Alphabet on their shelves.  The book was first published in 1963 by Houghton Mifflin. Here's the bottom of the 't' page:

With that foot in the air, I think it is fair to say that George is doing what he (Rey, really) thinks is some kind of Indian dance. Regular readers of AICL know that I find this sort of play problematic because it immediately lapses into stereotyping.

As noted above, the book was first published in 1963. But, it has been published again and again... most recently (I think), in 2013, with a set of flashcards. That year (2013) was the 50th anniversary of the book, hence, a special 50th Anniversary edition. The local library doesn't have it. I wonder if the 't' page was revised? Do you have that version on your shelf? If yes, I hope you'll take a look and let me know.

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Children’s book illustrators and anyone absorbed in the curious business of children’s book illustration, Do you find it interesting, as I do that the big commercial for Google’s Nexus 7 features a little girl and her mom reading a Curious George story on the device? Google, in its elegant way used a simple illustrated page from [...]

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#41 Curious George by H.A. Rey (1941)
40 points

Originally published in 1941, It’s a testament to the enduring appeal of Curious George that this title, and its multitude of subsequent books are still widely circulated, and familiar to young readers. I can see why. Kids can relate to George’s innocently mischievous behavior and his relationship with The Man With the Yellow Hat, who acts as parental figure. In a format extended beyond the typical 32 page picture book standard, the simple text and humorous illustrations continue to draw readers in. – Travis Jonker

The plot from B&N reads, “The first adventure in this highly popular series tells how the little monkey Curious George, caught in the jungle and brought back to the city by a man in a yellow hat, can’t help being interested in all the new things around him. Though well meaning, George’s curiosity always gets him into trouble.”

Few picture books inspire people to write heroic stories about their own creators but that’s exactly what happened in 2005 when the title The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey by Louise Borden was published.  As the story goes, H.A. (or Hans) and Margret cobbled together two bicycles and took off for Marseilles when the Germans invaded Paris.  They were stopped along the way by Nazi soldiers, but when Hans showed them the pictures he had done of the little monkey who would become George the Germans were charmed and let the two go.

According to 100 Best Books for Children, George’s original name was Fifi.  Strangely (har har), American editors didn’t dig the moniker.  Interestingly enough, “Margret Rey served as writer and Hans as illustrator on all the books, although she did not always get title-page recognition.”  Not much in the way of cover recognition either, I see.

Some objections to the book don’t care for how The Man in the Yellow Hat kidnaps George from his native land without so much as a howdy-doo.  This fed nicely into Michael Rex’s Furious George Goes Bananas, which is probably the top George parody out there right now.  Of course, this little monkey has survived everything from full-screen adaptations to his own TV show to the recent introduction of a Curious George application for iPhones.  He’s cutting edge, this guy.  I suspect he’ll be around for a while.

You may read the book here.

And no tribute to George is ever truly complete without this reading by “Werner Herzog” (so to speak).

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It was kind of a kooky idea, I admit it.  I’ve seen plenty of sites where artists will reinterpret someone like Maurice Sendak in their own styles.  What I wanted was something a little different.  I wanted to see what would happen if great children’s book illustrators illustrated one another.  If a Lobel illustrated a Bemelmans.  If a Carle illustrated a Silverstein.  Trouble is, famous folk have a way of not bothering to illustrate one another (to say nothing of the fact that a bunch of them are dead as doornails).  The solution?  To offer a silly fun challenge.  And so the Re-Seussification Project was offered: To re-illustrate any Dr. Seuss book in the style of another illustrator.

Now there was some question at first about revealing the identities of the people making the mash-ups.  Some folks thought this fun contest was unfortunate because I wasn’t celebrating the great talents of up-and-coming artists.  So as a compromise, I’ll present the art first and then the names of the artists at the bottom of the page.  Makes it a little more streamlined anyway.

And now . . . the moment you’ve all been waiting for . . . in the order of the faux artists, here’s the lot!

So, we’re all friends here, right?  Right off the bat I’m going to make a confession.  In offering this contest all I really wanted was for someone somewhere to do an Eric Carle.  It was a lot to ask since we’re talking about an artist dealing in the medium of cut paper.  It looked like it wasn’t going to happen.  Then, last night, the final submission was sent in and it was . . .

1. GREEN EGGS AND HAM IN AN ERIC CARLE STYLE

A brilliant way to start us off!

Next up, I’ve fond memories of this book.  As a child of Kalamazoo I was slightly obsessed with any and every mention of my hometown, no matter where it might be.  Dr. Seuss was one of the few authors to understand the true glory of my hometown’s name and for that I shall forever be grateful.  It lifts my heart a little then to see him memorialized in the form of . . .

2. HORTON HATCHES THE EGG IN A LAURENT DE BRUNHOFF STYLE

I particularly like how worried Babar appears.  One thing’s for certain.  That elephant bird is gonna be one snappy dresser.

This next image didn’t go the easy route, no sir.  Some illustrators have styles that are easier to imitate than others.  For this next one I was incredibly impressed by the sheer details at work.  From the border to the font to the colors to the fact that this looks like an honest-to-gosh watercolor.  Hold onto your hats folks, for you are now in the presence of . . .

3. GREEN EGGS AND HAM IN A TOMIE DEPAOLA STYLE

The best part is that his name is signed with dePaola’s customary little heart.  THAT is the attention to detail I crave.

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On this Timeless Thursday, I would like to honor Margret and H.A. Rey, the beloved creators of Curious George. I saw that in Overland Park, Kansas at the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, they are having an exhibit called “Saving the Little Brown Monkey: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey” from October 21 to December 1, 2009.

The exhibit is mostly watercolor paintings that tell the story of the Reys escape from the Nazi invasion in France. It is appropriate for children from 4th grade and up, and the center is encouraging teachers to bring their classes to open up discussions about prejudice and discrimination.

I never knew this about the Reys until a fellow writer sent me an e-mail about this exhibit, and I just find it amazing. Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat have been loved by children and their parents for years and years. To think that this couple went through such a terrible time before creating such lovely and wonderful stories is simply amazing to me. It puts a whole new spin on Curious George. It also puts a whole spin on teaching with Curious George in the classroom–it is even possible to use these books in upper elementary or middle school grades as an introduction to World War II and Jewish concentration camps.

But more than this, I think this story of the Reys and their creation of Curious George shows that when one door closes, another opens. We can teach our children that when a tragedy occurs and they survive, their life is not over. It’s just time to start anew.

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Memorial Day weekend is the traditional kick off for the summer season.  For me, it’s also an excuse to eat more ice cream than I should and it marks the start of a new season of reading.  Although I probably read the most in the winter, when it’s cold outside and toasty warm inside, nothing is quite like a good book at the beach or under a shady tree in the park.

This summer my book club is reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, a debut novel by Jamie Ford.  I also hope to read two books I received for my birthday, The Zookeeper’s Wife and The Piano Teacher.   I’d like to finally get to the last two Harry Potter books as well. (I know I’m way behind the times on this one!)

My complete reading list would probably take me at least 5 years to get through, but still I’m always looking for more good reads.  I asked some of my colleagues what they were reading this summer.  A few were too shy to divulge their “fluff” reads.  (I think summer is the perfect time for some fluff!) Anna said that she’s taking the mystery Mudbound by Hillary Jordan to the beach and Rose said she will be reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Return of Sherlock Holmes and Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

Bonnie is taking on the classics starting with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn followed by a long list that ends with A Farewell to Arms.  Now this is something I’ve always wanted to do but have never had the courage.  Like Bonnie, I somehow missed a lot of classic reading as a kid.

In addition to reading Hidden Kitchens by The Kitchen Sisters by Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva and The Black Book of Hollywood Diet Secrets by Kym Douglas and Cindy Pearlman (her fluff read), Caroline had some fun summer reading plans.  “I plan to read the Complete Adventures of Curious George to my two nephews.  Curious George is my favorite childhood reading and I want to share this anthology with the boys.”

So, what’s on your summer reading list?

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We're finishing up Earth Week here and how very appropriate, but to include some earth-concious picture books for this week's Picture Book Saturday. Enjoy!

Oh how I love Curious George books. I am, of course, very partial to the original titles written and illustrated by Margret and H.A. Rey, but they ones written recently are all still pretty great. I just like the annoying monkey.

Curious George Plants a Tree is written by Monica Perez and illustrated in the style of H.A. Rey by Anna Grossnickle Hines. We get all of our usual mischief out of George, as he learns how to be "green" through recycling and proceeds to walk along his street, collecting his neighbors belongings to bring to the recycling drive. Items such as the recently delivered newpapers sitting on lawns, a box of important files that hadn't quite made their way into the moving truck, and paper cups from a lemonade stand all made their way into George's wagon, until he had a crowd of angry people following him to the recycling drive.

The last page of the book has 20 tips for living green that families can perform together and the book itself is printed on mixed resources, meaning from well-managed forests, controlled sources, and recycled wood or fiber. Awesome huh?

A great choice for any Curious George collection or green living collection!

Curious George Plants a Tree
H.A. Rey (Monica Perez)
32 pages
Picture book
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9780547150871
March 2009

A Tree for Emmy, written by Mary Ann Rodman and illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss, is another sweet story about loving the environment, though in a bit subtler manner than Curious George. We meet Emmy, a little girl with a huge imagination that just loves playing under and on her grandmother's mimosa tree. When it comes time for Emmy's birthday, she can think of nothing more she wants as a gift than her very own mimosa tree! Her parents eagerly agree and set off for the greenhouse to buy one.

Unfortunately, the family learns that mimosa trees only grow wild and are not sold in stores, leaving Emmy incredibly disappointed. Luckily, Gramma comes up with a pretty great solution!

The idea of truly loving nature really comes across in this title. I loved when Emmy mentioned how pretty wild clovers and dandelions were and that she wasn't interested in anything that didn't grow wild. Very sweet! The illustrations were great too!

A Tree for Emmy
Mary Ann Rodman
32 pages
Picture Book
Peachtree Publishing
9781561454754
March 2009

Big Earth, Little Me, writen by Thom Wiley and illustrated by Kate Endle has quickly become one of my favorites to share with little kids. It is a wonderful resource for beginning to teach little ones about helping to save the earth, without getting too complex on the subject, and combining fun aspects like lift-the-flaps, to keep things interesting.

The reader gets a tip on each page as to how he or she can help with certain eco-friendly jobs, such as "I can turn off the water" and "I can use both sides of the paper." There is also a sturdy lift-the-flap on almost every page, engaging even the youngest of readers. Simple concepts make a wonderful, fun book that is SO important in today's world.

The book is beautifully illustrated with bright, bold colors, and everything is printed with soy ink, making it very earth friendly. Though only available in paperback, the pages are sturdy and not easy to rip. The lift-the-flaps will hold up well.

I loved this one and highly recommend it as a purchase for ALL families with little children. It's only around 6 dollars, so a great investment on a great subject!

Big Earth, Little Me
Thom Wiley
16 pages
Picture book
Cartwheel books
9780545092258
April 2009

Finally, one that is not necessarily about doing eco-friendly tasks, but rather just using a garden to help teach children their opposites.

A Garden of Opposites is written and illustrated by Nancy Davis and is presented in such a simple, yet bold and impacting manner. Each page spread has a set of opposites (in/out, slow/fast, big/little), all using items from the garden. The last page spread has a fold-out page, encouraging the reader to find more opposites.

Done in beautiful bright, bold illustrations with super-simple text, this title would be a great choice when moving slowly from board books to picture books. Made with very sturdy material, it's not quite the board book, but a nice transition to picture books.

A great choice for home or library shelves!

A Garden of Opposites
Nancy Davis
26 pages
Picture book
Schwartz & Wade Books
9780375856662
March 2009

To learn more about any of these titles, or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon.

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