The tale concludes on a heartwarming note, with the monkey and her mother embracing each other. The butterfly, having played a crucial role in their reunion, also shares in their happiness. This reinforces the importance of friendship, teamwork, and the enduring connection between loved ones. The butterfly, though well-intentioned, frequently confuses different animals for the monkey's mother due to its misunderstanding of the descriptions provided by the monkey. The butterfly's suggestions include a diverse array of creatures such as an elephant, a snake, a spider, a parrot, a frog, and a bat. Despite the butterfly's best efforts, these misidentifications lead to humorous interactions and highlight the differences between various jungle inhabitants. When little monkey can't find his mother, butterfly offers to help in the search. Little monkey says that his mother is big, so butterfly leads him to... an elephant. No, that's not right! Little monkey says his mom is furry, so butterfly leads him to... a bat. The story is wonderful to read and enjoy simply as it is, or if you want to use the book to inspire some conversation I have always found Burt is quite happy to talk about the friendly characters that Axel Scheffler brings to life in the illustrations. You could use the story to talk about different animals, introduce some mathematics by counting each animals’ legs or do some biology and talk about metamorphosis and the lifecycle of a butterfly. You could also explore language together by describing each other or thinking of a better description for little monkey’s mum. You could also read the story before a trip or a holiday to discuss with a young child what they should do if they ever do become lost (not a comfortable idea to entertain but it is certainly an important subject to discuss if you feel your little one is old enough).

This is one of the first books we bought for our son and it is a huge favourite! Love the felt animals you have made to go with it. I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. Investigate environmental issues linked to jungles and rainforests. How can people help to protect them? I used to have this book when my son was small. All Julia Donaldson’s books are fabulous. You can get so many learning activities from them tooI read this book with a group of 4-6 year old children. We loved using the clues to guess who the butterfly would find based on the information it was given.

The narrative of "Monkey Puzzle" centers around a young monkey who becomes separated from her mother in the vast and dense jungle. Feeling lost and alone, the little monkey embarks on a quest to reunite with her beloved parent. Along her journey, she encounters a helpful butterfly who volunteers to assist her in the search. This pattern continues with humour and rhyme as the animal pair meet numerous other animals until the monkey is finally reunited with its mum and dad. The clever aspect of this tale is the butterfly being unsure who they're looking for as their babies differ from them.Look at the different types of punctuation shown in the story. Could you use some of these in your own writing? Choose one of the animals on the word mat (see Resources below). Then, make up some clues for a friend to help them identify the animal that you are thinking of. Monkey Puzzle (also known as “Where’s my Mum?”) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is a firm favourite with children in our classes. Monkey has lost his Mum. The butterfly is keen to help but it takes a while! They meet lots of other animals along the way. Monkey Puzzle (in the United States of America, Where's My Mom?), written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, is an illustrated children's story book, published in 2000 by Alison Green Books. Donaldson dedicated the book to her cousin's children, Tom, Billy, Emma and Katie. After a parrot is produced, Little Monkey tells butterfly that his mum 'leaps about'. Once more butterfly gets it wrong and produces a frog. 'Brown fur' is Little Monkey's next clue but the creature hanging upside down in a tree isn't his mum; 'she's not nearly so small' explains little monkey.

Little monkey has lost his mum but a passing butterfly tells him that she will help him to find her. The only clue that Little Monkey can give butterfly is 'She's big! Bigger than me.' Eventually the little monkey becomes exasperated with Butterfly. Why does she keep getting the wrong animals? Then, the penny drops. The little monkey never gives Butterfly the key information - the little monkey’s mum looks like he does! This seems obvious to the little monkey but it isn’t to Butterfly because none of her babies looks like she does: her babies are caterpillars! Find sources: "Monkey Puzzle"book– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( August 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Axel was born in Hamburg, Germany. At school he was good at art, but didn't think of a career in illustration until he won a cuddly purple cow in a drawing competition. He moved to England in 1982 to study illustration at the Bath Academy of Art, and then set up home in London.

Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta. Look at the patterns and textures on the animals in the story. Investigate what camouflage means and how this helps animals.

Once more this misleads butterfly as she produces a snake, so Little Monkey has to tell him that his mum has more legs than that. Once more this is confusing to butterfly who produces a spider. 'No, no, no! ... 'she'd rather eat fruit than swallow a fly, And she lives in the treetops way up high' is Little Monkey's next clue. One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. Five years after the publication of multi award-winning The Gruffalo, author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler return with a much-awaited sequel. Monkey puzzle is the tale of a young monkey who searches for his mum with the help of a butterfly. Confusion unfolds as the butterfly uses only the most immediate piece of information when looking for the monkey's mum, for example 'She's big!' declares the monkey 'bigger than me' and using this information the butterfly takes the monkey to an elephant. This story is fantastic for children learning language. It is full of phrases that kids can join in with and it is rich in descriptive vocabulary. Kids learn body parts, adjectives and describing ability and actions, as well as jungle animal vocabulary.We love this book too, such a great rhyming structure to it and as always the illustrations are lovely! Your felt animals are brilliant too!! This leads butterfly on a wild goose, or more appropriately to begin with, a wild elephant, chase. Little monkey has to tell him that it isn't his mum and he gives butterfly another clue - 'her tail coils round the trees'. The butterfly’s babies don’t look like him. Can you explain why this is? What does metamorphosis mean?