by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 11, 2009   Last Updated: January 11, 2012

It's the first sequel to Curious George. After six years, H.A. Rey re-visits the happy monkey swinging on his cage at the zoo. "He was a good little monkey and always very curious," Rey writes, but he "wanted to find out what was going on outside the Zoo." The second Curious George book describes the monkey's first explorations of the city around him - and to show the story, H.A. Rey contributed some even more ambitious artwork.

The smiling monkey easily lifts the keys from the keeper's pocket when his back was turned. (There's a great drawing of the keeper noticing the keys are missing, while in the background the tiny monkey scampers away.) There's a two-page spread showing the zoo, with the blue-suited keepers searching everywhere for the missing monkey. George was hiding in the hay under an elephant - he'll use the elephant's ear as a blanket that night - though outside the zoo, the monkey is confused. But he playfully hops onto the roof of a passing bus, and H. A. Rey devotes two pages to an excellent picture of George's first glimpse of the city.

Throughout the book, Rey creates a cheerful tone using bright colors in his simple drawings which are often very funny. George wanders into a restaurant and finds a pot of spaghetti - and as always, his young smile suggests he has no idea of the trouble he's getting into. Soon he's surrounded by ropes of spaghetti as a worried chef rushes in. ("Spaghetti was all over the place and in the middle of it was a little monkey.") George smiles again as he washes the cook's dishes, and the cook gets George a job as a window washer. ("George promised to be good, but little monkeys sometimes forget...") And there's an unforgettable drawing of the enormous yellow building with a fire escape down its side - and the tiny monkey washing its highest windows.

When two housepainters break for lunch, George draws jungle scenes on their walls - and H.A. Rey creates two two-page illustrations for startling before-and-after pictures. Then he devotes a third spread to a chase after the monkey - George had even painted their furniture! - and soon a line of people is running after him down the fire escape. Poor George is crying when he jumps to the pavement and hurts his feet, and he's placed on a stretcher and taken in an ambulance. Soon he's lying in a hospital bed, with his leg tied up in a cast. And he really shouldn't have taken a big whiff from that bottle of ether...

The story hops from one misadventure to the next, since George wakes up under a cold shower - frowning - only to learn that he's been cast in a movie. The man with the yellow hat even invites his keepers from the zoo, and as the movie starts, the story's circle finally closes.

"This is George..." the movie's narration begins. "He was a good like monkey - he had only one fault: he was too curious."

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.