"How many Curious George books are there?" my neighbor asked. "There a book about going to the library, and a book about going to the beach." H. A. Rey only wrote seven of the original Curious George adventures, but in the 1980s there was a series of animated TV adaptations. In the strangest journey of all, George traveled from his books into cartoons - whose plots were then adapted back into books. Which is how, in 1989, children ended up with a book called "Curious George goes to an Ice Cream Shop."
On its title page, there's a very cute drawing of George lifting a bowl with an enormous pile of ice cream and nuts - with a cherry on top, and bananas on the side. "Let's treat ourselves to some ice cream," says the man with the yellow hat. I think it's funny that in this book, he's identified as simply "the man." But in this book's story, it takes a while for the monkey to find his way into mischief.
It helps to think of this book as the less-interesting adventures the monkey had during his everyday life between the more exciting books. At least its story was edited by Margret Rey - and the simple drawings are reminiscent of the original 1940s illustrations by husband H. A. Rey. But it takes a while for the story to build up any real tension. "Look, George, there's a new ice cream place in town," says "the man." Page two simply shows them finding a parking space, and page three shows them going inside.
I can identify with George's dilemma - he couldn't make up his mind, because there were a lot of flavors. And inevitably, the phone rings, and the ice cream store's owner leaves the monkey alone in the store. But in this story, the monkey doesn't have the same child-like reasons for getting into trouble. The unidentified author simply writes that "The next thing you know, George had climbed onto the counter and picked up the scoop." And when the store's owner returns, he yells at George and frightens him over to the window.
But the book stays true to the formula in another crucial way. George stumbles across a shelf filled with whipped cream, bananas, cherries and nuts. George puts them in a dish - and soon he's assembled an enormous sundae. He's unknowingly attracted a crowd who wanted to watch the dessert-making monkey. They cheer when he adds a cherry on top, and he's attracted a flood of new business into the ice cream store. And in the happy ending, George has finally decided what he wants on his own ice cream sundae.
"A little of everything."