by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 15, 2009

It's the funniest Curious George book of all. "Curious George Gets a Medal" is the fourth book in the series, and proves the monkey can find mischief even when he's alone in his house. The cover hints at the wild fun to come - the monkey is shown riding on a cow...dragging a water pump. And it's one of only seven original books that were illustrated by H.A. Rey and written by his wife Margaret.

Its first page shows the monkey sprawled innocently on the floor, reading a book with his excited black eyes and an open-mouthed smile. And like any good comedy, one thing leads to another. (The doorbell rings. The mailman delivers a letter. George wants to write a letter! He finds paper and an ink well...) Soon his monkey smile has turned into a frown.
The smile: George holds a funnel over the pen, and then pours ink into it. The frown: "the ink spilled all over and made a big blue puddle on the floor." And then George pours soap powder into the puddle...

I love how the story keeps winding, with the monkey getting into more and more trouble, as he's trying to fix things. Soon there's a frothy puddle of soap bubbles in their living room. The monkey is surprised and delighted. But then the room is filled with soap puddles, rising up over the desk, the lamp, and the chair, as the garden hose snakes around on the floor. George is seen from behind in the background - leaping worriedly out the window. Then he smiles again, because he's a got a silly plan. (He'll scoop the lather out of the living room, with a shovel!) But there's no lather left - now the living room is just a giant lake...

The cheerful tone of the book comes from its illustrations, filled with bright colors - all the buildings are yellow, and of course the water's blue and the grass is green. And everyone is smiling - the postman who delivers the letter, and the goat who butts George over towards the pigpen. And the pigs are smiling too, especially the biggest pig in the front. ("What if George opened the gate just enough to let him out?") H.A. Rey drew wonderful two-page spreads showing the chaos that the monkey accidentally caused - and even the monkey smiles along. For example, George had never seen a yard full of pigs before, and "For the moment all his troubles were forgotten."

And the story rambles on for 48 pages. (Two farmers spot a monkey riding their cow to borrow their water pump.) George flees to a museum, where he knocks over a stuffed dinosaur. He's invited to fly in a rocket, and he parachutes to earth. (Another wonderful drawing). Yes, he finally earns a medal - and among the cheering people is his next-door neighbor, who - guess what? - cleaned up the puddle of soup bubbles! "To George, the first space monkey," reads the medal.

"It was the happiest day in George's life."

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