Curious George Series (favorites)
On the whole, we love the Curious George books. George is cute and easy to relate to. The drawings are done in a way that help the reader relate to George. The stories are often a bit longer and more complex than a lot of books for little ones, where the resolution of the initial misunderstanding is often not the end of the story but leads to another situation.
There are many books, many we love, but a few we skip because of some of the content that is mostly related to the time when the books were written. We will list the ones we love here and the ones we skip under a separate entry under the skip it category. There won’t be any in the middle ground simply because my little one LOVES these books. I personally might put a few in the so-so category, but my little one always gets the final say on which books are in the favorite category versus the so-so category.
Curious George Takes a Job (1947): This story is very early in the series, as far as I can tell the second book. George is still at the zoo here. We like this story, however, there are two aspects to be aware of. The conflict resolution isn’t great, several characters simply tried to chase George till he gets hurt and near in the end the man in the yellow hat and another man are smoking cigars. This is not uncommon in the early Curious George books and if this is too prominent in the story we skip the story, but since this is only one page, it’s manageable in this one.
Curious George in the Snow (1998): Overall, a fun story in the style of George over the years with the added fun of snow. There are two instances in this story where my little one asked several questions and seemed concerned. These are both moments where a parent might want to talk about the concerns listed under Cautions below. One of the moments was when George crashed into a pole, one was when George hurt another skiier.
Curious George and the Puppies (1998): Cute story here too, with the same pattern. George and the Man encounter some sort of issue, George’s curiosity causes a ruckus but, in the end, solves the problem without George even trying or sometimes knowing. This story had the added benefit of introducing my little one to the concept of an animal shelter (the kind type of shelter) and we got to talk about all the different types of animals that were at the shelter (and why they might be there.)
Curious George at the Parade (1999): In this story, George and the Man are at a parade in the big city, and spend a little time at Mabel’s Department Store. Clearly this is a play off the Macy’s day Thanksgiving parade. There are floats, bands and big balloons all in the parade and of course George’s curiosity leads to a little bit of mayhem that in the end turns out to solve a big problem and land him in the Mayor’s car at the start of the parade. Only issue to think about ahead of time is the band director is angry at George and chases him around. Otherwise, cute story illustrated by someone else but we couldn’t even tell the difference.
Curious George Goes Camping (1999): Same pattern here to the story, but this book had lots of topics we got to discuss and ask questions about, as my little one is probably more curious than this monkey is. Topics included camping, different types of tents, safe campfires, wildfires, all sorts of different forest animals, and how you might smell if you make a skunk upset. One of the stories that invited the most discussion about the topics within the story, which to me is always a good book and good idea.
Curious George and the Dump Truck (1999): This one makes the list simply because my little one loves George. Same pattern and same illustrations as always, but this time the curiosity and the ruckus are a bit on the naughty side, which I tend to avoid with my little one. George climbs in a big dump truck and plays with the controls (which I would consider dangerous and not to tempt my little one with the idea - not that we are ever around dump trucks haha.)
Curious George Snowy Day (2007): The later in time the story was written in this series, the less chance it has of being offensive in some way or another. George’s curiosity is far less naughty as the decades progressed. This story is an adventure in the country snow for George, which includes snowshoes, a sled, a big hill, a lost pig, and helpful neighbors (who aren’t a white cookie cutter character, which is nice and invites conversation about the beauty of how we are all made differently.)
Curious George Plants a Tree (2009): This story is written by a different author, Monica Perez. The story is structured very similarly to the previous authors, but the story feels different. It seems more sensitive to the times than the previous stories. George’s troubles revolve around recycling and planting a tree. George isn’t wrecking anything or getting hurt and there are no cigars or the like. At the end there are even instructions on planting a tree.
Cautions: There is a balance to be found with George’s curiosity where it gets him in trouble, yet it helps him learn and grow. If these books are read to a little one, there should be some discussion of behavior, curiosity, rewards and consequences.
