Written and illustrated in the style of the original Margaret & H. A. Rey Curious George books.

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Pasta Blanda

This book is about George the monkey and how he went to an aquarium to look at different types of sea animals such as sharp toothed piranhas, seahorses, red octopi, starfish, and an urchin. George was also very curious so at one point in the story he place in hand in one of the tanks and a crap came up and bit his finger. From that point on George did not like being at the exhibit. He still was curious so he ended up in the penguin living area where he accidentally let all the penguin escape. In all the commotion George saved one of the baby penguins from drowning and became a new hero at the aquarium. This was a very cute story and is a great book for teaching students different animals and even personification as well as fantasy verse realism. ( )

George and The Man with the Yellow Hat visit an aquarium, where George has lots of opportunities to be curious. While the man is buying tickets, George hears enticing noises and can't restrain himself; he jumps over the wall and starts exploring. He sees whales, piranha, a cranky crab, and eventually scrambles into a penguin enclosure. The workers aren't happy about his being there, but when George opens the door to leave, all the penguins escape instead. Everyone is so busy catching them that they don't notice the baby penguin fall in the water. Good thing George is there! He jumps in and saves the chick that can't yet swim. George is a hero again.

The story follows typical Curious George formula: he follows his curiosity, falls into trouble, and performs some good act that makes everyone forget his mistake. This story, though, was wordier than the book about taking a train. The action took too much time to develop. Nonetheless, I do love aquariums, so I appreciated George's desire to wander through all the wonders. Also, my daughter's attention never wavered, and she is a picky critic. Clearly, the story isn't boring, even if it could be more concise. A typical book of the series. If your child likes Curious George, this is an easy choice. ( )