Count the Monkeys For Picture Book Friday

I must start out by saying I am a big fan of Mac Barnett.  I had the opportunity to take Mac out to lunch after a book talk he did at our school.  Ok, perhaps "take out" is stretching it a bit, but dragged kicking and screaming doesn't really have the same ring to it.  He talked a bit about the book I am profiling today and I want to share some of that conversation with you.  The parentheses represent my thought bubbles and if there were actual illustrations in this blog it would be so much cooler.

Mac - "I am coming out with a new picture book next year."

Me - "Wonderful!  What is it about?" (He must think I am pretty great to tell me about his new book.)

Mac - "It's a counting book"

Me - "Great!" (Lame)

Mac - "Kids get to count the monkeys."

Me - "Fun" (Lamer)

Mac - "But there are no monkeys in the book."

Me - "Awesome!" (Awesome!)

As always, Mac does not disappoint.  His books, like his presentations, are these lovely performances for kids that they can replay over and over again.  Bravo Mac!

So without further ado, let's count the monkeys ... not!

Title:       Count the Monkeys

Author:   Mac Barnett

Target:    Preschool - Grade 3

What this book is about:
Well this is a counting book, and you can certainly count the mongeese, the crocodiles, the grizzly bears and the lumberjacks, but good luck finding a monkey in this story.  It seems that the characters on each page have simply scared off the inhabitants of the page before until we run out of pages in the book!  

Why I love this book:
I am a sucker for a book that gets kids involved.  If I can get a child cheering, yelling or flapping their arms I’m in (especially if they do all three at the same time!)  Your kids will be: voting on the correct plural term for more than one mongoose (I’m not kidding,)  saying “thank you” very politely (I’m really not kidding,) growling, banging pots and pans and high fiving fictional characters - how great is that.  You see, there is always something required to turn the page to help us get rid of whatever is scaring away those monkeys.

Who this book is for:
Kids who like to laugh and parents who enjoy reading a story that gets kids involved.

Final thoughts:
There is some monkey business going on here!

To purchase this book, click on the following link to connect to Amazon: Count the Monkeys  A portion of each purchase goes to support this blog at no cost to you.