Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
Jay Berry Lee wanted nothing more than his own .22 and a pony. Jay Berry was out to fetch the family's cow from the river bottoms (again) when his best friend Rowdy, an old, faithful hound, trees a monkey. Through a series of events, Jay Berry and Rowdy try to capture the 29 monkeys hanging around in the river bottom trees after they realize the circus that lost them is offering a substantial reward. The monkeys leave them looking like fools instead. After an unexpected event, however, Jay Berry is able to gain the trust of the monkeys and lead them to the safety of his family's corn crib until the circus people come to claim them.
This book has some wonderful laugh out loud moments and unexpected twists. It can lead to a lot of great discussions about positive character traits and about the characters' relationships. Not to mention, I [the teacher] really like the ending and the decisions that Jay Berry has to make. The author did a great job of illustrating Jay Berry's decision-making and the personal dilemmas he faces.
83% of my students said they liked the book and would definitely recommend it to someone else.
"It taught me not to just think about yourself but to think of other people."
"The boy gave up what he wanted to make his family happy."
11% of the students said that the book wasn't their cup of tea, but other people might like it.
6% of them said they didn't like the book and would not recommend it to anyone, ever.
Since the Disney version of the movie was rated G, we decided to watch it after we were done reading the novel. Sadly, the movie has little in common with the book. For example, the whole reason that Jay Berry decides to catch the monkeys (after his grandpa tells him about the reward) is that he wants to use the money for the .22 and the pony. This is not the way the movie portrays it. There were no other boys out to get the monkeys. There was no old, grouchy man interacting with Jay Berry for being on his property.
Another big difference that many of my classroom friends were disappointed by were the amount of monkeys. The movie only had four goofy monkeys, which may not seem like a big deal, but when Jay Berry gets surrounded by the monkeys coming closer and closer before they attack and bite him, 29 monkeys are going to be scarier then 4 goofy monkeys. Also, when Jay Berry and the monkeys finally come to the house, and his sister Daisy starts yelling about him coming home with thousands of monkeys, the kids thought it was so funny they laughed out loud.
Not only were there some big differences, there lots of little differences too. Let me point out a few... In the book, Jay Berry didn't work in Grandpa's store with him. Rowdy, the hound, wasn't a hound in the movie. Daisy, Jay Berry's twin, didn't walk with a crutch like in the book. (The book actually said she was unable to walk without a crutch, and the crutch was a very touching part of the ending.) In the book, Daisy never almost fell in the river, and the monkeys never went in the family's home and messed it up.
Really, the book and movie are almost two separate stories based on the same main characters.
All that aside, pretty much all of the students liked the movie.
About half of them liked the book better than the movie.
[I think I agree! The book had so much more detail and so many more fun parts. Also, let me reiterate, I like the ending in the book much more than the movie.]