Five Little Monkeys Bake a Birthday Cake
by Eileen Christelow
(formerly titled: Don’t Wake Up Mama)
Five Little Monkeys Bake a Birthday Cake
by Eileen Christelow
Clarion Books—1993 Ages: 3-6
“Will combine nicely with Christelow’s other books for a foolproof story hour.”
— School Library Journal
IRA/CBC Children’s Choice —1993
The Story:
Five little monkeys wake up with the sun. “Today is Mama’s birthday!”
“Sh-h-h! Don’t wake up Mama!”
Sneezes, crashes and the E-e-e-e of a fire engine don’t stop the Five Little Monkeys from baking Mama a surprise birthday cake while she is fast asleep. But, when Mama finally does wake up, she reveals a surprise of her own!
The Idea:
I started writing a story about a little girl who liked to get up before her parents. I wrote one page. Then I was stuck!
My character was mischievous—kind of like the five little monkeys. So I thought, “Why not write about them?” With new characters, my story got ‘unstuck’!
The Illustrations:
The line is pen and ink. The color is gouache.(Gouache is like water color, but it’s opaque.)
Click on the blackboard for Monkey classroom ideas.
Read my dog, Emma’s, comic interview with the Monkeys!
Download a Five Little Monkeys Activity Kit!
