Five Little Monkeys Play Hide-and-Seek

Although this title has been out in publication since 2004, it's a new one for me, and I'm eager to share the story (and the activity) with my preschoolers in the coming weeks!

Christelow, Eileen.
Five Little Monkeys Play Hide-and-Seek.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Sandpiper.
May 24, 2010.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

The five little monkeys are back! And as one would typically assume, they're up to a little monkey business!

The five little monkeys
are ready for bed.
Their mama's going dancing.
She's dressed in bright red.

"Lulu's the sitter.
You'd better be good.
No tricks! No silliness!
Is that understood?"

Those are the rules set for by Mama before she leaves her five little monkeys with Lulu, the sitter, and heads out for a night of dancing. The monkeys agree, and then quickly involve Lulu in the promised "just one game" of hide-and-seek. However, one turns into two and two turns into three... and before you know it... Lulu isn't able to "seek" out the five little monkeys. And before long, Mama returns home, to find that Lulu has frantically lost her babies. Or has she? One might just be surprised to find out where the five little monkeys chose to hide during that third game!

The rhyming text, coupled with a unique story ensure a fun read aloud for children, ages 3-8. Seeing the return of familiar characters will also encourage reading in children, as they'll love seeing favorite characters in new settings!

Reading/Learning Activity:

• This book provides perfect opportunity to introduce and/or reinforce children to the concept of making predictions. I have provided a neat "predicting" activity to have children complete part way through the reading of the book. However, this means you'll need to read the book first, and mark the page at the correct point (the page reads as follows):

  She hunts in the closets.
  Where can they be?
  Under the table?
  Behind the big chair?
  Those five little monkeys
  aren't anywhere!

• At this point, stop reading and pose the question to your child(ren), "Where do you think the monkeys are hiding now?"
  
• Using the handout that can be downloaded here, have your child(ren) complete the sentence at the bottom of the paper and then illustrate the sentence to show their prediction as to where the monkeys are hiding.
• Then, after the pictures have been illustrated, finish reading the story and find out if any predicted correctly!
  

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