Monkey Face by Frank Asch is out of print. It is also not cheap at Amazon either. It's not outrageously expensive, but it's still about 20 bucks for a used copy.
So, although I only vaguely know the story, from an old flannel board story I was introduced to - (THANKS MICHELLE!), I decided that it would be a fabulous book to re-create as a new flannel board story. My apologies to Frank Asch - I have totally changed up the order of the story and have not even begun to use any of the original illustrations as guides, but here it is...
The gist of the story is that Little Monkey has drawn a picture of his mother.
On his way home to show the picture to his mother he is stopped, one by one, by his well-meaning friends who each seem to find some fault with his picture. "The ears are a bit small don't you think, says rabbit..".
At each turn Little Monkey cheerfully alters his picture to better suit his friends ideas.
At the end, left with a very bizarre looking picture, Little Monkey's mother says she loves the picture. "Just the way it is? Yes, just the way it is." and she puts it on the fridge so everyone can see it.
I have to say that now I have told the story a few times, I've found that the giraffe works PERFECT as the last friend.
By that time the kids have gotten the idea that if owl says the eyes are too small, then (I turn and kind of block the view of the flannel board with my body as I add the layers) 'Wallah!' Little Monkey's picture now has owl eyes.
At the end, when the giraffe is the friend, the older kids are trying to figure out how I'll magically make the picture have a long neck without having the whole conglomeration come crashing down off the flannel... well, I have glued the base of the giraffe's neck to the monkey's shoulders - just tug the body down and 'Tada!' surprise!
In the meantime, I'll just have to keep watching Amazon and see if Monkey Face ever gets reprinted - until then, well, I can still share a bit of Frank Asch - albeit, in my own way.
No comments:
Post a Comment