Chris MonroeReseñas

In this book, a bug plans a surprise birthday party and invites friends along on a bike ride. It's good for young kids, but the rhyming can be a bit tricky. The illustrations are fun, and kids will like the story. It's best for kindergarten to 2nd grade classrooms.

Kids enjoy seeings Chico Bon Bon use his engineering skills to solve problems.

This book is about a bug who throws a birthday party for himself, unannounced to his friends, and along the way to the party, the bug gathers up all of his friends as they adventure to the surprise.

Ladybug goes on a bike ride (with helmet on, of course), collecting friends along the way. No one knows where they are going, just that it must be someplace fun! Story told through rhyme, which at times feels a bit cumbersome. Illustrations include little details that perceptive readers will enjoy. It is a cute story that children will enjoy, but not an essential purchase.

The cover is adorable, but unfortunately, Bug on a Bike didn't live up to my expectations. The bug's "friends" are rather random -- everything from a pickle to a nickel, from a frog to a whole herd of cows -- and a strange enough assortment that it hindered my appreciation of the story. And while I appreciate quirky illustrations, the illustrations in Bug on a Bike seem a bit too homemade and not polished enough for a professionally published book.

However, I'm sure kids will love the weird assortment of characters and laugh at the illustrations.

Note: I received a digital galley of this book through NetGalley.

Another amazing, whimsical, delightful, detailed filled Monkey with a Toolbelt adventure. I love how I love different things about each one of these books -- the phlegmatic introduction of Chico Bon Bon in book 1, the hilarious sound effects of book 2, the crazed muffin expressions of book 4 -- awesome. This book is no exception -- I had such a great time examining all the small and possibly significant details of the school day, not to mention the hilarious library book titles. The only thing I could not figure out is why the squirrels don't just get absorbed into the school? Why do they need their own squirrel school in the treetops, when the creature diversity of the school is clearly so great? A question for the ages, or possibly merely a question of classroom management.

Chico Bon-Bon had never seen a pancake do so much damage....

Chris Monroe wins at the best first liners for picture books. She just wins. I'm delighted at further Chico Bon-Bon adventures, and the little muffin faces are hi-larious.

Hilarious building story of many friends following a bug on a bike to a surprise -- simple in concept, superbly executed with great vocabulary and illustrations.

This is exactly the kind of book I would have loved as a kid, with tons of tiny details in the pictures. Not so great for storytime, but really clever and cute. I heart Monkey with a Tool Belt!

Chico Bon Bon is a monkey with a tool belt. He can build all sorts of things and loves to fix things too. When his friend Clark the elephant bakes to get ready for a party for his uncle, he makes a mess and has problems. Chico has a plan and of course it involves his tool belt and his problem solving skills. The party is a success thanks to Chico Bon Bon.

This series is made up of smart picture books, celebrating intelligence and ingenuity. The text is fun to read with its rhyming lines and great pacing. The pictures complete the book perfectly. They are quirky, funny and just like the text do not talk down to the child audience. What a treat!

Highly recommended especially for tool-loving girls and boys. Appropriate for ages 4-7. This series would be great for Kindergarten classrooms as well as school, public and family libraries.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute mystery for children. Chico Bon Bon and his friends are going to school. Of course he wears his trusty tool belt full of tools for any number of emergencies and jobs. He is able to help his friend Clark by repairing his back pack and chair as well as things around the school. After a visit to the library revealed missing books, Chico and his friends began to notice many things missing around the school, including the tacos for lunch. Chico takes on the mystery. Using his magnifying glass to find clues, he found clues around the school. Can Chico solve the mystery? A very cute story about the process of investigating as well as helping others. The illustrations are wonderful. They are colourful, detailed and fun. I would recommend this book to all public, school and family libraries. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

This book was about a monkey who always fixed things with the tools in his tool belt. One day when things at his school started going missing he used his tools to investigate and discovered that a squirrel school had taken their things. Instead of blaming them he worked with them to build their own school.

This book is really funny because the reason for the noisy problem is nothing you would expect! This is a great book for teaching problem and solution fictional elements. And Chico Bon Bon is cute.

a hilarious book about a little monkey that goes around and, with his tool belt, fixes all sorts of problems.
1 book

a funny book about a monkey with a very noisy problem and he has to work hard to fix it. with some effort and hard work, he does!
1 book

Richard Scarry-like. Busy illustrations and fun/silly text depict a fun adventure to a birthday party with all kinds of friends.

In our house a preschooler who broke away and made a run for it was always a Runaway Bunny, even though I found that book kind of creepy. Actually, really creepy. This is a fine alternative. Adults will appreciate the elaborate metaphor of parents as watchful sheepdogs, keeping their charges out of harm, while the kids are sneaky sheep, getting into all kinds of danger and/or trouble. Kids will appreciate the subversion of the sheep.



It's cute, it's fun, it's not heavy-handed at all. Probably all the little members of the family will be getting this next Christmas.



Library copy.

Very funny and entertaining. IB PYP: risk-takers. Nope, these sheep (Blossom and Rocky) are not thinkers, balanced, knowledgeable, or reflective - this book an excellent way to reflect on these. Murphy (the herding dog) is all of these things.

IB PYP: open-minded, caring, risk-takers

Cumulative kookiness and what a long, strange trip it is.

I'm torn between three and four stars here. The illustrations are fairly unique, maybe not beautiful but pretty delightful. The story is a morality tale, although kids may not quite catch it. And the book's format is creative and original. The comic book style may appeal to reluctant readers.

birthday ... bug, lots of great rhyming

Two Sheep Rocky, and Blossom were very adventerous. They wanted to see what was on the other side of the meadow. Unfortunatley Murphy their watch dog wouldn't let them leave. Blossom and Rocky, being the adventerous sheep that they were ran towards the meadow many times but kept getting got by Murphy. One day the two sheep got away and ran to the top of the meadow, but their was a scary wolf there and nobody was their to protect Rocky and Blossom. Both of the sheep ran as fast as they could away from the wolf and thankfully Murphy was their to protect them after all.
This is a great book when teaching students to always obay their parents or whomever is watching over them. You never know what might happen when you do something your not supposed to. I would read this story to children under the age of ten.

Wonderfully entertaining story about an ingenious simian. If only I could get him to come fix my plumbing.

The pros and cons of walking on two legs and on four. Love the illustrations.