Monkey Puzzle or Where’s My Mom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is full of delights for young children. You will find Julia Donaldson’s brilliant rhymes and Axel Scheffler’s wonderful illustrations along with repetition, clues, jungle animals and a great big hug. We have read it over and over again and never tire of it. If you don’t own a copy it is a great addition to your bookshelves at this time of year as Mother’s Day approaches and it is also a fantastic story to read in the Spring as an introduction to the lifecycle of a butterfly.
The story begins with a little monkey, alone and lost in the jungle. This little monkey has lost his mum.
Fortunately the little monkey isn’t alone for long. A well-meaning and friendly Butterfly appears and comforts him, then they set out to find the little monkey’s mum, together. Poor Butterfly keeps finding animals that fit the little monkey’s description but they aren’t quite right.
Elephant might be bigger than the little monkey and the snake might coil around trees but they are not the little monkey’s mum. The spider has more legs than a snake and the parrot lives in the treetops but neither of them fit the bill either. Before you turn the page there is always a clue as to which animal is next, so as you read you can guess what’s coming up next. Each time Butterfly gets it wrong the little monkey chimes “No, no, no!” and this repetition is quickly picked up by little ones.
Eventually the little monkey becomes exasperated with Butterfly. Why does she keep getting the wrong animals? Then, the penny drops. The little monkey never gives Butterfly the key information - the little monkey’s mum looks like he does! This seems obvious to the little monkey but it isn’t to Butterfly because none of her babies looks like she does: her babies are caterpillars!
Once the misunderstanding is ironed out Butterfly is more successful and they find Dad and finally Mum!
Talk about
The story is wonderful to read and enjoy simply as it is, or if you want to use the book to inspire some conversation I have always found Burt is quite happy to talk about the friendly characters that Axel Scheffler brings to life in the illustrations. You could use the story to talk about different animals, introduce some mathematics by counting each animals’ legs or do some biology and talk about metamorphosis and the lifecycle of a butterfly. You could also explore language together by describing each other or thinking of a better description for little monkey’s mum.
You could also read the story before a trip or a holiday to discuss with a young child what they should do if they ever do become lost (not a comfortable idea to entertain but it is certainly an important subject to discuss if you feel your little one is old enough).
Here are some ideas or questions that you might want to use to start a discussion in your family. You know your family and which questions they are ready to tackle now and which can be left for another day:
- How would you describe little monkey’s mum so that Butterfly could find her easily?
- How would you describe your Mum?
- Why doesn’t Butterfly understand that the little monkey’s Mum looks like her?
- What do Butterfly’s babies look like?
- How does a caterpillar change into a butterfly?
Crafts and activities for kids
Monkey Puzzle is a cleverly crafted sequence of meetings and you will be surprised how quickly children can pick up the order of the encounters with each animal. Learning to put together and remember a sequence is an important skill and helps children to develop their own abilities to tell stories and recount events. We made a felt board so that Burt could act out the story as we read it and then play with the characters and retell the story in his own words.
Have a look at the Pinterest Board full of crafts and activities for kids….
or take a look at these activities to accompany reading the book:
- Read and Create Monkey Puzzle Felt Board
- Fantastic Fun and Learning Monkey Puzzle Story Basket
- Teaching Ideas Book Activities
- Nurture Store Glitter Butterflies
- Red Ted Art How to Make a Sock Monkey
- Red Ted Art Handprint Monkey
- Science Sparks Butterfly Lifecycle Cocoon Activity
- Domestic Goddesque How to Make Monkey Bread
What have you been reading this week?
We love this book! We love all books by Julian Donaldson, and I love the activity ideas.
Oh we love this book but Tiddler is our favourite of all their collaborations
Becky recently posted…Creative Name Cakes
Awwww we love this book. It is so sweet, isn’t it? Love your felt animals too!
This is my youngest daughters absolute FAVOURITE book!!!
Donna recently posted…Children & the fear of swimming
Great book! Will look for it for my little wee brother 😉
Sylvia recently posted…Stir fry on budget / Stir fry na budżecie.
This is one of the first books we bought for our son and it is a huge favourite! Love the felt animals you have made to go with it.
Mummy of Two recently posted…Where would Little Mr A go with a flying bed?
We love this book too, such a great rhyming structure to it and as always the illustrations are lovely! Your felt animals are brilliant too!!
globalmouse recently posted…Eurostar: UK to Brussels and back again!
We love Julia Donaldson’s books. I think our absolute favorite is Stick Man! Thanks for sharing this activity. It looks so fun. Can’t wait to try it with my boys.
I seriously need to mug up on more Julia Donaldson books since it’s DD’s theme for WDB at school!
Liz Burton recently posted…Get Your Craft On for Easter
We love Julia Donaldson books in this house, they are such wonderfully imaginative stories for little ones!
Kirsty - Hijacked by Twins recently posted…Cheap Budget Meals - Tasty Homemade Recipes Within Budget! Veggie Macaroni Cheese
we LOVED that book when mine were younger,
I always used to ruin the rhyme though, and changed Mum for Mummy as I was a bit of a *Mummy* snob at the time…. I’m Mum Mum Mum all the time now they are older though!!
always love how to review and add activities to book review. fab!
Gorgeous book to read again and again, lovely review, thanks
I used to have this book when my son was small. All Julia Donaldson’s books are fabulous. You can get so many learning activities from them too
mellissa williams recently posted…Rome - What They Do And Don’t Tell You
Lovely book and thanks for sharing the activities to go with it x
Cass recently posted…The small things that are making me happy this week….
Looks like a great book. Thanks for all the great info x
6yo loved this book when she was a little younger
Angela Spicer recently posted…My Wedding Scrapbook
What a lovely book and a great activity to go along with it!
Michelle recently posted…Rum Caramel Banana Pancakes
i love the idea of asking questions in relation to the book!
laura redburn recently posted…new collages & getting back into mixed media
We have just discovered this book - it is fab!
Kara recently posted…Snoob Breastfeeding Scarf
I love the way that children learn that not all animal babies look like their parents in this story. I thought that the butterfly revealing that her children didn’t look like her was very clever.
Catherine recently posted…The Night Pirates by Peter Harris and Deborah Allwright
Awww this was one of our favourite books when my kiddies were younger.
Your felt board is such a great idea and something that could be adapted for any story.
Emma (My Little 3 and Me) recently posted…Energy Saving Tips - Saving Money, Being Greener!
We love this book too, and in fact all of Julia Donaldson’s stories. Especially Tiddler.
love Julia Donaldson, as does Wilf! x
Fritha Strickland recently posted…Interior Design - Bathroom wish list
Great linky and we love Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler stories.
Kizzy recently posted…Questions
We love this book. It’s one if our favourites
Emmys Mummy recently posted…Beanies Yogart maker - review & giveaway
This book brings back sweet memories of reading it to my kids when they were little. Of course, as a Mum, I had a big soft spot for the story.
Kriss MacDonald recently posted…Who’s whispering about Sir Charlie Stinky Socks?
Awww, lovely post. I don’t think we’ve read Monkey Puzzle yet, not sure how that happened!
Emma recently posted…Fun with Dora the Explorer
I LOVE Julia Donaldson and will read her books for fun and I’m 26! My toddler is only 20 months and isn’t even interested in the gruffalo yet! I love this book a week link up idea though and love to try new books with him all the time
Katie
Katie recently posted…Etsy toddler clothes mini haul!
We love this book! The illustrations are so great too :). I think this linky is so fab, I will definitely try to join in one week! x
Charlotte recently posted…Siblings {March} 2014
Yay I am so happy to be finally able to join in! *cracks open inappropriate tin of gin*
Mammasaurus recently posted…Books to Read -week one
Lovely to have you. Thanks for joining in, you are always very welcome x
Ooooh, a Julia Donaldson book we haven’t got! I shall be ordering this immediately.
Emily recently posted…Jennifer’s Cutlery, affordable vintage cutlery (review)
We’ve got the audio book of Monkey Puzzle for the car and it’s one of my favourites to listed to while we potter around town; the illustrations look gorgeous too!