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By: Houghton Mifflin
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
Wonderful illustrations - George is back! 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.
For those who don't already know, Curious George is the beloved monkey hero of H.A. Rey's children's books. Mr. Rey (along with help from his wife Margret) wrote and illustrated seven of the Curious George books. The "original seven" are available individually or all-in-one as part of "The Complete Adventures of Curious George, which should be the first "George" books one should read - they are still the best by far. But for true fans of Curious George, those seven books just aren't enough. Since H.A. Rey's passing away several years ago, attempts have been made to continue the series; some more successful than others - but none really matching the originals. Often those "new adventure" books have been formulaic and even poorly illustrated. Although I haven't read all of the "new" George books, one of the better ones is "Curious George's Dream" - that's one of the few I thought was worthy of the "originals", even though still not quite up to the H.A. Rey standard. So how does this latest effort, "Curious George in the Big City", compare?Well as you could tell from the title I used here, the illustrations are fabulous. Martha Weston is not only a talented illustrator, but it's clear that she loves Curious George - and has made every effort to re-create the world that H.A. Rey brought to life so brilliantly. While it would be impossible for her to "be" H.A. Rey, these drawings are as close to the originals as anyone could ever hope. Yes, when I look at these drawings, I know that George is back! Almost every picture is incredibly well drawn; George is very cute and expressive (looking very much like the George in "CG Takes a Job" and later H.A. Rey books), and the background settings look as though they were drawn by H.A. himself (highest possible praise!). As far as the story goes (which was evidently NOT written by Ms. Weston and is uncredited), well it's formulaic and not nearly as creative as the stories of H.A. Rey's "original seven". At least the prose does follow the original H.A. Rey writing style (beginning each story with "This is George", etc.). The plot is definitely lacking in this one (compared with the originals), but the for serious CG fans, the drawings are worth the price of the book. In fact the cover illustration alone is worth the price: with George waving from the top of the Empire State building (a nod to "King Kong"?) with all of New York City including the WORLD TRADE TOWERS(!) in the background. It's hard not to get emotional seeing this cover, considering what happened the very month this book was first published (September 2001). But seeing the cover takes us to a happier, more peaceful time, that's something George has always been able to do for children and everyone else - to provide a calming effect and make us smile, even when we deal with so many difficult times. Yes - thanks to Martha Weston, our George is back, and the World Trade Towers are back too. For that we can be very thankful, and should buy this book! I hope that Ms. Weston will continue to illustrate George's further adventures; perhaps it would be even better if she wrote the stories as well. I'll bet even H.A. and Margret Rey would approve.
Editorial Review:
While holiday shopping with the man with the yellow hat, George is accidentally swept away on a tour of the big city. Though he has fun seeing the tourist sites and all the sparkling decorations, what he enjoys most is being back together with his best friend.
