Night Monkey, Day Monkey: 1

Another fabulous book from the genius imagination of Julia Donaldson. My little grandsons (aged 2 and 3) just love it!Two cute little monkeys (one daytime, one nighttime) have fun checking out each other’s environment. It’s a comical experience for both: day monkey is alarmed by a flying banana (the moon) and hundreds of eyes twinkling in the dark (fireflies), while night monkey is startled by moths wearing make-up (butterflies) and owls that screech (parrots), among other delightful discoveries.The story is told in rhythmic rhyme with lots of delicious onomatopoeia, which makes it an absolute joy to read aloud. And, of course, as always with Donaldson, there’s a repetitive line for little ones to learn, anticipate and shout out over and over. In this case, it’s ‘Don’t be daft!’, as the monkeys laugh at each other’s misunderstandings.What is really special about this book, though, is the beautifully conveyed message that the unknown is not something to be scared of.And let’s not forget the colourful illustrations, which are kept simple with toddlers in mind, but which feature interesting little details to discover and discuss on every page.As for quality, the book is a sturdy hardback with thick board pages and is a convenient size for small hands and for sticking in a handbag or car glove compartment.It simply has to be yet another 5 stars for Donaldson.Thanks for reading my review. I hope you found it helpful. Check out my profile page for more reviews of toddler books and puzzles and educational toys and games.

My 2 1/2 year old loves this book. It's a warm and humorous story about a monkey that lives in the night that meets the day monkey and sees all the daytime delights of animals and sights that the daylight brings (and vice versa). Matching other reviews, it's a shame that the dark writing is often against a dark background which can make it difficult to read when you have dim lighting to bring your little ones into the sleep zone but we have had much fun reading this together and the story gives many opportunities to use different voices to entertain. Good book, warm loving story of a relationship between two monkeys and a great bedtimes read.

My child thinks Night Monkey/Day Monkey is the greatest book on Earth. Writers like William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens must be rolling in their graves. I took the 2 small teddies, placed them on the drawings of Night Monkey and Day Monkey on the page and lifted them, BLOWING my childs mind as she thought id just lifted them out the book.

We bought this for our toddler as he was starting to get a bit anxious at bed times and reviews seemed to suggest that this book could be helpful.This is a lovely Julia Donaldson book and is an easy one to read and for toddlers to listen to as it rhymes and is slightly repetitive in places so is quite catchy. The basic premise is that things can feel strange in the night but can be explained e.g. strange noises etc..The book is beautifully illustrated and like all Julia Donaldson books, it will be popular with toddlers and young children.

My boy loved this book from 19 months, much longer than previous books we read to him, but he sits through it and unfortunately for us, wants to read it every night. It’s a story about two wonderful characters night monkey and day monkey who show each other different creatures and things that happen in the day or night. It’s funny, rhyming, well written and well-illustrated. We have the hard board version and are really pleased with this buy.

Didn’t realise this set was so small and wasn’t a hardback. My niece likes the toys which are very cute and dinky which is perfect for her little hands at 18months. Very small and flimsy paper book though, which she could easily rip if left to her own devices. Has to be said that the story itself is well written and fun. Not sure this set is worth the price I paid but it was OK.

We got this as part of my daughters second birthday. It's a beautifully written book however I have dropped a star because of how hard this is to read at bedtime in dim lighting.The wording is in black. And almost every page of the book, the background is dark blue. Making it an almost impossible combination to read in subtle lighting.Other than that, it is one of our favourite books and has opened up a lot of exploring from my daughter. Such as "where is my shadow?"

We love board books at our house. We have quite a few of them and use read/re-read them all the time. They are in between paper and hardback books and can take quite a bit of wear and tear with toddlers We are on to our second child with board books and they still look good (not brand new but a paperback would not classed as a book at the same stage). Would highly recommend these.