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Summary
Summary
It's Christmastime! And irrepressible, excitable Curious George has just the spirit for it. He can't wait to help his best friend, The Man with the Yellow Hat, pick out their holiday tree. At the tree farm, however, amid all the excitement of finding the perfect specimen, George gets carried away, as usual--atop his favorite tree! Hiding in the tree's branches, George finds himself delivered to the local children's hospital, where his tree trimming antics cheerthe children and he gets to meet a jolly man in a bright red suit.
Author Notes
Margarete Elisabeth Waldstein was born in Hamburg on May 16, 1906. She briefly met her future husband, H. A. Rey, when she was a young girl, but then left for Hamburg to study art. They were reunited in 1935 in Rio de Janeiro, where Rey had gone to escape the political climate in Germany. Margret convinced Hans to leave the family business, and soon they were working together on a variety of projects.
Hans and Margret were married in Brazil on August 16, 1935, but they soon moved to Paris. It was there that Hans published his first children's book, after a French publisher saw his newspaper cartoons of a giraffe and asked him to expand upon them. Raffy and the Nine Monkeys was the result, and the debuted the mischievous monkey named Curious George.
After Raffy and the Nine Monkeys was published, the Reys began a book of Curious George's own. Before the new manuscript could be published, the Reys, both German Jews, found themselves being forced to flee the Nazi occupation. From Lisbon, they made their way to Brazil and on to New York City, where they began a whole new life as children's book authors.
Curious George was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941. All the Curious George books, including the seven original stories by Margret and Hans, have sold over 25 million copies and are so popular that the original story has never been out of print.
Margret Rey passed away in 1996, but not before establishing the Curious George Foundation in 1989, which gives money to children and animals.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Curious George goes Christmas tree shopping with the man in the yellow hat, and climbs into a tree that gets delivered to a children's hospital. Although lost, the little monkey makes the best of the situation by decorating the boughs with such items as gauze, X-rays, and crutches and by changing the name tags on all the presents. All ends well as the young patients are entertained and the man with the yellow hat arrives to collect his companion. The text is stilted, and both the plot and illustrations owe a great deal to Margret and H. A. Rey's Curious George Goes to the Hospital (Houghton, 1966). Still, the illustrations capture the look, if not the flavor and charm, of the originals, and so this book will likely be popular with young Curious George fans.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Based on the work of Margret and H.A. Rey, Merry Christmas, Curious George by Cathy Hapka, illus. by Mary O'Keefe Young, finds the inquisitive fellow unwittingly transported to a hospital, where he brings holiday cheer to all. The book jacket doubles as gift wrap. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Hapka and Young offer a new Curious George story, written and illustrated in a style similar to that of the misbehaving monkey's creators, Margret and H.A. Rey. In this Christmastime adventure, the man with the yellow hat takes George for a visit to a Christmas tree farm. Of course, George has to swing from tree to tree like the monkey he is, eventually climbing the tallest tree on the farm. The tree is cut down and transported by truck to a children's hospital with Curious George hanging from the treetop. At the hospital, George gets into his typical sort of mischief, including decorating the tree with items stolen from patients' rooms, but because George makes the children laugh, he's allowed to stay for the hospital's holiday party. He helps redecorate the tree in a more traditional manner and is asked by Santa to place the star on top of the tree. Children who love Curious George will like this latest adventure, and the story is shorter and more accessible than some of the longer original entries in the series. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
