Curious George Takes a Job

Last updated
Curious George Takes a Job
CuriousGeorgeTakesAJob.jpg
First edition
Author H. A. Rey
Margret Rey
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Curious George
Genre Children's literature
Publisher Houghton Mifflin
Publication date
1947
Media typePrint
Preceded by Curious George  
Followed by Curious George Rides a Bike  

Curious George Takes a Job is a children's book written and illustrated by Margret Rey and H. A. Rey and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1947. It is the second of the Curious George books and tells the story of George taking a job as a window washer.

Contents

Plot

The book picks up where the first book ends. George is living in the zoo, until he gets a key from a zookeeper and escapes his cage. In the city, George sneaks into a restaurant where he is caught in the kitchen eating a pot of spaghetti and forced by the cook to wash the dishes, but he does a splendid job. As a reward, the cook takes him to meet an elevator man, who gives him a job as a window washer for a tall apartment building. As George works, he observes many people in the different windows, such as a boy refusing to eat spinach and a man sleeping. Once he reaches the final window, he notices a room behind the window being painted. George lets curiosity get to him again (after the elevator man tells him not to be too curious), he enters the apartment just as the painters leave for lunch and decides to paint it for them.

An hour later, the painters return and see that George has given the room a jungle theme, including painting the furniture coverings as animals. Furious, the painters, the elevator man, and the lady owning the apartment chase him out of the room and down a fire escape, followed by the other tenants. George then jumps from the end of the stairway, thinking he will be home free but forgets how hard the pavement is. The jump causes him to break his leg and an ambulance soon arrives to take George to the hospital. As they look on, the others believe that this injury is what George deserves for painting the room. The elevator man adds that he warned George he would get in trouble if he was too curious.

In the hospital, he unhappily lies in bed with his leg in a cast hanging above him. George's incident makes it to the front page of a local newspaper. After he and his incident both end up on the news, the Man with the Yellow Hat sees it and he contacts the hospital to claim him.

Once George's leg has healed, he climbs out of bed and winds up tampering with a bottle of ether which knocks him out cold. The Man with the Yellow Hat, the doctor, and the nurse find him and manage to bring him around after putting him under a cold shower. Afterwards, George is taken to a movie studio to film a movie about his life, which he and all of the townsfolk he met later come to watch in the theater.

Reception

The book has received reviews from publications including School Library Journal , [1] Kirkus Reviews , [2] The New Yorker , [3] and New York Herald Tribune . [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. A. Rey</span> Childrens illustrator and writer (1898–1977)

H. A. Rey was a German-born American illustrator and author, known best for the series of children's picture books that he and his wife Margret Rey created about Curious George.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curious George</span> Protagonist of a series of popular childrens picture books by the same name

Curious George is a fictional monkey who is the title character of a series of popular children's picture books written and illustrated by Margret and H. A. Rey. Various media, including films and TV shows, have been based upon the original book series.

<i>Hopscotch</i> (Cortázar novel) 1963 novel by Julio Cortázar

Hopscotch is a novel by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar. Written in Paris, it was published in Spanish in 1963 and in English in 1966. For the first U.S. edition, translator Gregory Rabassa split the inaugural National Book Award in the translation category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Hall (actor, born 1899)</span> English actor (1899–1959)

Charlie Hall was an English film actor. He is best known as the "Little Nemesis" of Laurel and Hardy. He performed in nearly 50 films with them, making Hall the most frequent supporting actor in the comedy duo's productions.

<i>Curious George</i> (film) 2006 animated film directed by Matthew OCallaghan

Curious George is a 2006 animated adventure film based on the book series written by H. A. Rey and Margret Rey. It was directed by Matthew O'Callaghan, written by Ken Kaufman and produced by Ron Howard, David Kirschner, and Jon Shapiro. Featuring the voices of Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, David Cross, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, and Dick Van Dyke, it tells the story of how the Man with the Yellow Hat, a tour guide at a museum, first befriended a curious monkey named George and started going on adventures with him around the city while attempting to save the museum from closure.

<i>Falling Up</i> (poetry collection) 1996 illustrated book of poems by Shel Silverstein

Falling Up is a 1996 poetry collection primarily for children written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein and published by HarperCollins. It is the third poetry collection published by Silverstein, following Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974) and A Light in the Attic (1981), and the final one to be published during his lifetime, as he died just three years after its release. Falling Up was the recipient of the Booklist Editors' Award in 1996.. In 2015, a special edition of the book was published, with 12 new poems.

<i>Curious George</i> (TV series) 2006 animated television series

Curious George is an American children's animated television series based on the children's book series of the same name for PBS Kids which features Jeff Bennett as the voice of Ted Shackelford. Frank Welker, who voiced George in the 2006 feature film, reprises the role in the series. The show premiered on PBS Kids on September 4, 2006, and originally ended after nine seasons on April 1, 2015 before returning in 2018. The series concluded after 15 seasons on Peacock by March 17th, 2022.

"Modern Men" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the second episode of the 1996 Christmas trilogy and the fourteenth Christmas special, first screened on 27 December 1996. In the episode, Del Boy is a reading a new lifestyle book, Modern Man. Later, Cassandra suffers a miscarriage.

"The Man from Tallahassee" is the 13th episode of the 3rd season of Lost, and the 62nd episode overall. It was aired on March 21, 2007, on ABC. The episode was written by Drew Goddard and Jeff Pinkner and directed by Jack Bender. The character of John Locke is featured in the episode's flashbacks. The episode received critical acclaim and it’s considered by critics and fans as one of the best episodes of Lost.

<i>Curious George Flies a Kite</i> Book written by Margaret Rey and illustrated by H. A. Rey

Curious George Flies a Kite is a children's book written for beginning readers by Margret Rey, illustrated by H. A. Rey, and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1958. It is the fifth book in the original Curious George series and the only one the Reys did not write together.

<i>The Stone of Laughter</i>

The Stone of Laughter is a Lebanese novel, written in 1990 by author Hoda Barakat set during the Lebanese Civil War. The book was translated into English by Sophie Bennett. It is a winner of the Al-Naqid prize and the first book by an Arab author to have a main character who is homosexual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Mark (actor)</span> Russian-American actor (1886–1975)

Michael Mark was a Russian-born American film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1928 and 1969.

<i>Curious George</i> (book) Book by H. A. Rey

Curious George is a children's book written and illustrated by Margret Rey and H. A. Rey, and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941. The first book in the Curious George series, it tells the story of an orphaned monkey named George and his adventures with the Man with the Yellow Hat. For 80 years, it has sold over 25 million copies, and has been translated into various different languages such as Japanese, French, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Swedish, German, Chinese, Danish, and Norwegian. It is also in the Indie Choice Book Awards Picture Book Hall of Fame and has been the subject of scholarly criticism.

<i>Curious George Rides a Bike</i> Book by H. A. Rey

Curious George Rides a Bike is a children's book written and illustrated by Margret Rey and H. A. Rey and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1952. It is the third book of the original Curious George series and tells the story of George's new bicycle and his experiences performing with an animal show.

<i>Curious George Goes to the Hospital</i>

Curious George Goes to the Hospital is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Margret Rey and H. A. Rey and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1966. It is the seventh and final book in the original Curious George series, and tells the story of George's experiences in a hospital after swallowing a jigsaw puzzle piece.

<i>Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!</i> 2010 American film

Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! is a 2009 American animated comedy film based on the children's stories by H.A. Rey and Margret Rey. A sequel to the 2006 film sequel, it was originally subtitled Monkey on the Run. It was released straight to DVD in the United States and theatrically in Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland.

<i>Curious George Gets a Medal</i> 1957 book by H. A. Rey

Curious George Gets a Medal is a George book written and illustrated by Margret Rey and H. A. Rey and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1957. It is the fourth book in the original Curious George series, and tells the story of George's flight into space. The story was published only weeks before the Soviets launched Sputnik II and Rey wanted to share his interests in space travel with children.

<i>Curious George Learns the Alphabet</i> 1963 childrens book by Margret & H. A. Rey

Curious George Learns the Alphabet is a children's book written and illustrated by Margret Rey and H. A. Rey and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1963. It is the sixth book in the original Curious George series.

<i>The Jazz Man</i> American childrens book

The Jazz Man is a children's book written by Mary Hays Weik and illustrated by her daughter Ann Grifalconi. The book was published by Atheneum Books in 1966 and received a Newbery Honor in 1967. A second edition was published in 1993 by Aladdin Books.The Jazz Man has also been published in Germany and South Africa.

Curious George is a 1984 short stop-motion animated children's film, and is based on H. A. Rey's 1941 book of the same name. The film is directed by John Matthews and was produced by Churchill Films. The company also produced Curious George Goes to the Hospital two years prior in 1982. The two films are often paired together and collectively called The Adventures of Curious George.

References

  1. Mcelmeel, Sharron (April 1983). "Curious George takes a job". School Library Journal. 29 (1): 46.
  2. "Curious George Takes a Job". Kirkus Reviews. June 15, 1947. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  3. Galchen, Rivka (June 3, 2019). "The Unexpected Profundity of Curious George". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  4. Curious George takes a job. OCLC   16318301.