Today is Curious George creator H.A. Rey’s birthday, and libraries and museums are joining in the celebrations. But George isn’t the only monkey to have made his mark on the literary world. Whether It’s some sense of kinship with the primates or just the entertainment value of a monkey in the lead role, monkeys have an established place in literature old and new. Click through these links to find out more.
Experiencing the playful innocence of the Curious George books is delightful, but the authors? reality was much grimmer. It was Paris in the 1940s, and German Jewish couple H.A. and Margret Rey were forced to flee from the Nazis. This New York Times article sheds some light on the creators of one of the most beloved characters in children’s literature.
Edgar Allan Poe’s short story ?The Murders in the Rue Morgue? has been cited as the first true detective story, and is often credited for inspiring Sherlock Holmes and other detectives of a similar prototype. But what’s the primate connection? Click the link to find out!
With this past summer’s new blockbuster take on the Planet of the Apes story, blogs are abuzz with comparisons among the various films and remakes of the franchise. But did you know that even the original film was based on a satirical 1963 French novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote the original Bridge on the River Kwai novel)? This review discusses some of the story differences and themes in Boulle’s work.
