The Monkey People: A Colombian Folktale (Rabbit Ears We All Have Tales) - Softcover

Metaxas, Eric

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1939228417 ISBN 13: 9781939228413

Publisher: Rabbit Ears Entertainment, 2013

Synopsis

Deep in the rain forests of the Amazon jungle, a village of very lazy people wishes to do nothing but lie in their hammocks and think great thoughts. One day, a mysterious man arrives who is able to create monkeys that do absolutely everything for them. Soon, the monkeys multiply and take on every human activity--including complaining. This humorous Colombian fable perfectly evokes the spirit, rhythms, and imagery of South America. Illustrated by Diana Bryan. Ages 5 and up. Part of the award-winning Rabbit Ears series, We All Have Tales. Audio and video versions using the same text and illustrations are narrated by Raul Julia with original music by Lee Ritenour. Worldfest Houston Gold Special Jury Award. DVD and digital downloads are available at Amazon Disc on Demand and Amazon Instant Video. The audiobook is available at Audible.com. Hard cover library bound editions of the book are available at www.rabbitears.com. Rabbit Ears stories open a door to the world of great literature. These are timeless and beloved stories that have delighted generations, and continue to offer powerful lessons for today's audiences. Readers of all ages will explore faraway lands and cultures through folktales. You will walk alongside heroes of long ago legends. And discover master storytellers such as Beatrix Potter, Hans Christian Andersen, and Rudyard Kipling. Original illustrations in full color add another dimension to each story, and the texts will foster a love of reading. Get the entire Rabbit Ears library!

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-Prosperous villagers in an Amazon rain forest have everything they need; therefore, they become lazy and disregard their forefathers' traditions. Then a child brings an old man to the village who cuts monkeys out of leaves, monkeys that spring to life and do his bidding. The villagers request small chores at first, then bigger ones, until more and more monkeys are doing everything for them, including breathing, digesting, and complaining. At this point it is hard to distinguish the monkeys from the people or vice versa. The tale gets bogged down in places because of the characters' continuous and ever more preposterous demands. It is difficult to determine the audience for this Colombian folktale. Challenging words, e.g., antipathy, nuance, piqued, overwhelming, and phalanxes, are not even in the listening vocabulary of most young readers. Bryan's splendid cut-paper illustrations, however, help to hold readers' interest and keep the story lively. Dark silhouettes set on colored backgrounds, reminiscent of those in Marcia Brown's Shadow (Macmillan, 1986), lend a South American flavor to the text. Buy the book for the artwork alone if South American folklore is in demand.?Betty Teague, Blythe Academy of Languages, Greenville, SC
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 5^-9. In this Colombian folktale, the people of an Amazon rain forest village begin neglecting their chores and moving every time their village gets too dirty. Soon even moving becomes too burdensome, so when a mysterious old man carves monkeys out of leaves and offers to bring them to life to work for the villagers, the people happily agree. Unfortunately, the perpetually dissatisfied villagers request monkeys to perform every task, even breathing and complaining, until the monkeys and humans become indistinguishable. Metaxas has an easy storytelling style, but he offers no source notes and confusingly inserts an alternative ending, from "older versions" of the story, that breaks the mood. Bryan's illustrations, black cut-paper silhouettes cast into sharply comical shapes and placed against bright backgrounds, are not only striking but also a perfect match for a story about carved monkeys. Susan Dove Lempke

Edition details

• Publisher: Rabbit Ears Entertainment
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1939228417
• ISBN 13: 9781939228413
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Bryan Diana
• Number of pages: 36