Title: Three Little Monkeys
Author: Quentin Blake
Illustrator: Emma Chichester Clark
Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books

Teacher and pupil reviews

The arrival of a large brown envelope in September filled me with joy - the perfect excuse to share a new book with my old class, who had moved on from Reception and were now grown up Year 1s.

After the initial euphoria of being reunited and hearing all their holiday adventures, we opened the envelope together. As soon as I withdrew the book, the children were captivated by Emma Chichester Clark’s lively front-cover illustration.

“I can see monkeys under a hat” said Tom immediately.

“And there’s a carrot in his ear,” replied Olly, “I think he is being naughty.”

Three Little Monkeys tells the cautionary tale of Hilda Stubbs, and what happens when she leaves her three pet monkeys alone in the house. After Hilda has gone out, the three little monkeys get bored, so they visit different rooms in the house with hilarious consequences. Newspaper gets ripped, knitting gets knotted and toilet roll gets unravelled…until one day Hilda comes home and can’t find her monkeys anywhere.

The repetitious and predictable rhythm of Quentin Blake’s text appealed to many of the children, who quickly picked up the refrain after another monkey misdemeanour: “Tim and Sam and Lulu looked at her with their big round eyes and said nothing at all.”

The text is supported by colourful illustrations, which held the children captivated as we read the story. Without exception, the favourite part of the story was when the three monkeys went to play in Hilda’s bathroom when she went out.

“Look!” squealed Harvey. “They have the toilet roll!”

Chloe said: “And that one is covered in bubbles.”

“Like a funny snowman,” replied Josh.

The story held the children’s’ attention. Many had big smiles on their faces as they anticipated what naughty things the monkeys might get up to next. As Hilda’s exasperation with her bored monkeys grows, she gets increasingly cross as they cause more chaos when she leaves the house. Finally Hilda snaps, wishing loudly for a peaceful life without wicked little monkeys, until she returns home the next day and can’t find them.

As Hilda tearfully searched for her monkeys, Albert predicted: “I think they are outside doing a mess.”

“Or cleaning up the bathroom,” said Elsie, hopefully.

Olly, using all the previous work we had undertaken about feelings, suggested: “Maybe they were sad and ran away because they were shouted at every day.”

Once again, Quentin Blake has created a funny and timeless story, which appealed to this class of five and six year olds. Emma Chichester Clark’s colourful and humorous illustrations add to the delightful text, as the naughty monkeys cause havoc for poor Hilda.

Tom summed the story up: “It was a fantastic book, because it was really funny.”

“I liked the messy stuff, because it was so silly,” said Chloe.

I left the classroom to: “Can you come again and bring the Three Little Monkeys?” 

Curriculum links

This story provided lots of opportunities to discuss PSHE issues in a meaningful context for young children: how Hilda and the monkeys are feeling, how what we say might make others feel, and the choices we make with the subsequent consequences.

Betsy, wise beyond her five years, stated: “The monkeys were bored because they didn’t have anything to do.”

“So they needed some monkey toys to play with,” replied Harrison.

“I know,” piped up Olly. “Maybe the monkeys are just learning like we are.”

This book would also be a great support for work around pets. “I think I would only have one pet monkey,” mused Olly. “Three make too much mess.”

As well as many talking experiences provided by both the text and illustrations, there are lots of opportunities for meaningful writing experiences. The monkeys in the story don’t talk - but, if they did, what might they have said to Hilda?

Jane Flood is Reception teacher at Copythorne CE Infant School, in Southampton.

If you or your class would like to write a review for TES, please contact Adi Bloom at adi.bloom@tesglobal.com

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