Monkey with a Tool Belt

by Chris Monroe, Chris Monroe (Illustrator)

Overview

Inspiration for the Netflix series Chico Bon Bon!

Whether you need a beebersaw or a chisel, Chico Bon Bon's your monkey. He can build or fix just about anything—from a dock for the ducks to a clock for the Clucks, even a small roller coaster for local chipmunks. But will his tools and his sharp wit save him when an organ grinder sets his sights on making Chico a circus star? Chris Monroe's quirky hero and detailed illustrations will absorb readers in an entertaining adventure that shows there is an inventive way out of every problem—if you have the right tools.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728487793
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/03/2023
Series:	Monkey with a Tool Belt
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	634,172
Product dimensions:	(w) x (h) x 0.13(d)
Age Range:	7 - 8 Years

About the Author

Chris Monroe is an award-winning author, illustrator and cartoonist. Her picture books include Sneaky Sheep, Bug On a Bike and the Monkey With a Tool Belt series, which inspired the Netflix show Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt. Chris is also the author and illustrator of the comic strip Violet Days, which has been in print for more than 20 years. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

Chris Monroe is an award-winning author, illustrator and cartoonist. Her picture books include Sneaky Sheep, Bug On a Bike and the Monkey With a Tool Belt series, which inspired the Netflix show Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt. Chris is also the author and illustrator of the comic strip Violet Days, which has been in print for more than 20 years. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

Editorial Reviews

Slightly edgy, highly detailed comics-style art will have readers poring over the pages of Monroe's (illustrator of Totally Uncool) latest. Chico Bon Bon, a monkey, loves to build and fix things with his tools. An early picture of the monkey nonchalantly modeling his brilliantly complex tool belt, its contents neatly labeled on white space, gives a clue to the upcoming daffiness: "screwdriver/ nutdriver/ nutcracker/ squeegee/ ouija/ planer/ strainer/ grease container." The story itself, a clichéd affair about an organ grinder who abducts Chico and Chico's subsequent use of his tools to escape, gets its oomph from the art. Laid out in panels, some numbered, some boxed; laid out in loops; arranged as vignettes; or composed like a maze, the illustrations command a reader's attention. Chico, looks sophisticated-he's a grown-up cousin of Julius the sock monkey. Look past the jacket; not only gadget jockeys will enjoy this visually polished tale. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)

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Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 3- Chico Bon Bon builds and fixes all kinds of things for his friends and family. Suddenly, lured by a banana split sitting on a small table, he is trapped by an organ-grinder and taken on a long, rough ride to the circus camp. Held captive in a box, he uses his trusty tools in a 12-step plan to escape. After catching a bus and getting home safely, he puts on his pajamas-and his tool belt-before dreaming of more things to build. The story is told with occasional rhymes, as when Chico builds "a dock for the ducks/and a clock for the clucks." The art is much stronger than the text. Monroe's watercolor-and-ink illustrations enlarge Chico's adventure. Maps show twisty roads, a busy village, and a handy bus stop, and captions label the tools in Chico's belt. Small pictures show the pipe organ he builds for a ladybug and a go-kart to transport skunks. The escape of Bobo, the organ-grinder's previous monkey, with the help of several tigers, is a real treat for observant readers. These same observant readers may also ask where Chico got the big rubber hammer to hit the organ-grinder's big toe. Because there is so much to see in the tiny, detailed pictures, this is better suited to independent reading-and looking-than to group sharing.-Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN

Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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