Curious George

Curious George, the curious little monkey...

Curious George is one of the most lovable Characters in all of children's literature. He is a small monkey that was captured by the man in the yellow hat. He then was taken to a zoo, where he was happy for a while till he decided he wanted to find the man in the yellow hat. He then escaped, and eventually was found by the man in the yellow hat. They now live together. It is a series of books written by H. A. Rey and his wife Margaret. There are 7 original books in the series, and then a bunch of new ones that aren’t nearly up to the original's standards. These books hold a special place in my heart, because I have always identified with George, because he always gets into trouble, then he feels horrible. But things always work out for the best in the end. These books still are definitely worth reading, no matter how old you are. There are a few interesting things in them that today just aren’t "P.C". For example, in Curious George Takes a Job, he is in a hospital, where he finds a jar of ether, then he proceeds to get high. Also, in Curious George, he smokes a pipe before bed. Curious George is the most amazing children's book I have ever read, and I hope all of you who have children will introduce them to the curious little monkey. If you speak spanish, read Jorge El Curioso.

This is the first book in the series of stories by Margret and H.A. Rey about George the curious monkey. This book was one of the manuscripts which she and her husband had with them on their bikes as they escaped German occupation of Paris in June of 1940.

The Story:

George is living a curious carefree life in Africa. He sees the man with the yellow hat who then captures George in a bag. He is then rowed out to a Steamliner in a row-boat by a sailor. On board the ship George is allowed play, but while trying to fly like a bird on the ship’s rail(think Titanic...wait, don’t) he falls overboard. Some of the sailors rescue him and he behaves for the rest of the trip (which is SO unlike George). Soon the man with the yellow hat and George go to the man’s house. George has some dinner, smokes a pipe (hmmm...I guess in monkey years he is mature enough..) and goes to bed. For his first bit of curious mischief in his new home George calls the fire department after watching the man on the phone. The firemen show up and are pissed that there isn’t a fire, chase George around, catch him and throw him in the slammer. George out-wits his captures and escapes his cell. Using his monkey skills he crosses from the prison on telephone wires. Safely on the prison wall George sees a street vendor selling balloons and is curious. He takes the balloons, sails over the city and lands on a traffic light. The man with the yellow hat just happens to be at the light and rescues George. After paying the balloon vendor, George is driven in a car to his new home at the zoo.

As fatboyrafe suggests, Curious George has been translated into many languages. Here's a brief list of foreign language editions of Curious George Goes to the Hospital, according to OCLC's online WorldCat database:

Danish: Peter Pedal på hospital
French: Georges va à l'hôpital
German: Coco kommt ins Krankenhaus
Hebrew: Choni hasakran holech leveit hacholim
Japanese: Hitomane kozaru byoin e iku
Korean: Pyongwon Sodong
Norwegian: Nysgjierrige Nils på sykehus
Spanish: Jorge el Curioso en el Hospital
Swedish: Nicke Nyfiken på sjukhus