MONKEY OF THE MONTH by Adam Kramer, illustrated by David Kramer

Six-year-old Lilah helped me review this title, a K-3 rhyming picture book about a boy who receives a special gift: membership in the Monkey of the Month Club. Since Lilah is very literal, I expected her to be annoyed that the first few "monkeys" included a gorilla and orangutan and she is fond of reminding people that these are apes, not monkeys. She told me, however, that she really liked the pictures and she thought that since "monkey of the month" was a funnier title than "primate of the month," it was okay with her. She's right - the illustrations are what make this book a joy. The rhyming is sometimes clunky, and we actually don't have a separate entry for each of twelve monkeys, which was disappointing, but the rich illustrations depicting monkeys with various skillsets (one, for example, washes dishes) and an increasingly fed-up mother are great fun. This was another "Read it again, Mama!" review for us.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title from the publisher.