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Summary
Summary
Life's pretty good on Monkey Island. All day long, the monkeys sit around talking their monkey talk and enjoying their big-time monkey dreams.
That is, except Oswego Pete, who is one slick monkey.
He's bent on finding the Easy Life--a place where a monkey never has to bend all out of shape for a banana, or do any hard work, ever.
Is it where the high grass grows at the foot of the mountain
Or down by the seaside
Uh-Huh Freddie, the Chief Monkey, says easy isn't always good, and a little hard work's not always bad.
Who's right
You will learn how to find the Easy Life in this witty adventure from popular author Walter Dean Myers and artist Lee Harper.
Author Notes
Walter Dean Myers was born on August 12, 1937 in Martinsberg, West Virginia. When he was three years old, his mother died and his father sent him to live with Herbert and Florence Dean in Harlem, New York. He began writing stories while in his teens. He dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Army at the age of 17. After completing his army service, he took a construction job and continued to write.
He entered and won a 1969 contest sponsored by the Council on Interracial Books for Children, which led to the publication of his first book, Where Does the Day Go? During his lifetime, he wrote more than 100 fiction and nonfiction books for children and young adults. His works include Fallen Angels, Bad Boy, Darius and Twig, Scorpions, Lockdown, Sunrise Over Fallujah, Invasion, Juba!, and On a Clear Day. He also collaborated with his son Christopher, an artist, on a number of picture books for young readers including We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart and Harlem, which received a Caldecott Honor Award, as well as the teen novel Autobiography of My Dead Brother.
He was the winner of the first-ever Michael L. Printz Award for Monster, the first recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults. He also won the Coretta Scott King Award for African American authors five times. He died on July 1, 2014, following a brief illness, at the age of 76.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-The monkeys on Monkey Island think they have it pretty good until Oswego Pete says he's looking to lead an "Easy Life." All he wants to do is lay back and relax. Uh-Huh Freddie, their leader, can see where this is going but when all the other monkeys agree with Oswego Pete, they set off to find another part of the island to find the Easy Life. On their way they come upon a lion who decides they would make a great dinner and after tousling with him, Oswego Pete ends up losing some of his tail. The lion won't give it back because he worked hard for it. And so it goes as they encounter a shark and some hip-hop hippos. By the end, the monkeys realize that working hard is not such a bad thing and they abandon their quest for a cushy life. This Aesop-like tale is written in African-American dialect, and Myers's turns of phrase are as funny as can be. It will make a great read-aloud. In case children miss the lesson, Uh-Huh Freddie sums it all up at the end of the story. The illustrations are cartoony and as silly as the monkeys in their colorful attire.-Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Oswego Pete, a stringy-looking monkey, sweet-talks his four monkey friends into setting off on a quest for the "Easy Life"; even stolid Uh-Huh Freddie, the chief monkey, gets suckered into the trip. But after a lion eats half of Oswego Pete's tail, a shark chomps off another quarter, and a group of Hip-Hop Hippos keep the monkeys as servants ("...it is not the life for no self-respecting monkey," Uh-Huh Freddie complains. "I got some big-time monkey dreams I need to get back to"), the whole gang realizes that the "Easy Life" may require some initiative after all. Myers (Muhammad Ali: The People's Champion) offers deft characterizations and quick retorts ("How come you ain't got no lips?" Oswego Pete asks the shark. "'Cause I don't want nothing between me and my lunch!"), and Harper's (Woolbur) animals grin and flirt engagingly. It's tough to side with responsible Uh-Huh Freddie when all the attention is focused on hapless Oswego Pete, but in a book far less serious than his norm, Myers demonstrates a profound talent for kid-pleasing humor-it's a story-time natural. Ages 4-8. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Though things were good on Monkey Island, Oswego Pete lures everyone toward finding "the Easy Life, where a monkey don't have to work hard for nothing." They set out, only to encounter tail-eating sharks and boring "Hip-Hop Hippos." While the story's allegory is strong, disjointed delivery and an odd ending mar the message. Illustrations of personality-rich primates enliven the tale. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Although life seems good on Monkey Island, with the sun shining, the fruit sweet and juicy, and the monkey tribe is having a ball, slick-talking Oswego Pete declares to Chief Monkey Uh-Huh Freddie that if he were chief, everyone would have the Easy Life. Three other monkeys, convinced by Oswego, pack their gear and set off, along with Uh-Huh. After narrowly escaping being eaten by a lion and a shark and then put to servile work by the hip-hop hippos, the five decide to return to their former life and retain Uh-Huh Freddie as their leader. The lengthy text, featuring a trace of African American dialect, and the rascally cartoon illustrations work together to imbue the characters with ample doses of personality as they traipse around their island. The facial expressions and body language of each of the figures clearly match the lively dialogue in Myers' hip text. Pair with Myers' How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World (1996), another original fable.--Enos, Randall Copyright 2010 Booklist
