Little Monkey Detective: When I first read it, I was really deceived

Source: Beijing Evening News

Little Monkey Detective is a very "deceptive" book, and when I first read it, I was really deceived! I heard that it was a new work by the author of "Hugo of Dreams", and I completely ignored the introduction of this book and couldn't wait to open it. Good fellow, there are 5 chapters, almost 200 pages, and I thought to myself, it will take an hour or two to read it. Just as I was setting up my posture and getting ready to enjoy the new work of the children's book ghost Seznik and Sellin, I flipped through it, about six or seven minutes, well- I actually turned to the last page! Oh my God, I thought, what a book this is! No, is this really a book?

Brian Seznick Figure [U.S.] David Sallin Wen Chang Li Translated by Twenty-first Century Press

Well, it's really a book. It has all the forms of books, and a very cute protagonist- a curious, naughty little monkey baby, who actually has a job as a private investigator and has repeatedly solved big cases: jewelry theft, pizza theft, nose theft, spaceship theft... When reading the "Last Case of the Little Monkey" in the catalog, I can't help but think of the last case of Sherlock Holmes, can this little monkey baby be compared to the legendary Supreme Detective?

In fact, in terms of the efficiency of solving the case, this little monkey detective can completely shame Holmes. At the beginning of each report, the little monkey, like Holmes, will first carefully study the reporter (mainly with a magnifying glass) and then take careful notes. Next, the little monkey spends his time eating a snack (sometimes taking a nap first) and tossing and turning his pants until he is fully dressed. Then, with a magnifying glass to track the suspect's footprints, as soon as you go out of the room, you can capture the suspect at the door, and the people are all stolen - hooray! This speed of handling cases is absolutely unprecedented. If you want to draw the key points, the most laborious part of the process of the little monkey god detective to solve the case is the link of wearing trousers, fortunately, after his hard work, the efficiency of this link is constantly improving, the first time to solve the case to wear pants used 8 pages, the second time 6 pages, the third time 4 pages, the fourth time or 4 pages ... The last case, because there is no need to wear pants, so the case is solved instantly!

In this way, the story of this little monkey baby learning to wear pants and magically solving the case is actually a very serious joke. The creators used nearly 200 pages of thick books to make a chapter book that can also be read by young readers. There are words in the book, but the words are very few, the font is particularly large, and they are deliberately repeated, and when the young reader encounters these repeated words and sentences a second or three times, he will naturally be able to read them on his own. There is also a clear structural repetition of the illustrations in the book, each chapter begins from the inside of the detective office, and the little monkey must be reading a certain book; then, the preparation and solving process of the little monkey are also presented in a similar pattern. However, whether it is words or pictures, there will be changes in detail, such as the content of the detective's decorations, the snacks that the little monkey eats, and each chapter is different. The creators have also deliberately adjusted the structure of the fourth chapter, smoothly transitioning to the end of the fifth chapter. The context of the whole book is very clear. It's just that it's neither a picture book, nor an image novel, nor a regular bridge book, although it mixes important features of these types.

So, this very unusual super thick "bridge book", in addition to joking with everyone, is it also somewhat educational? The author, Sellin, admits that in fact, they still have something to teach children, the most important of which is to let them experience formal independent reading, from which they understand the basic reading and learning methods. The little monkey detective shows the same curiosity as "Curious George", which is the starting point for solving the problem. In this book, the creator not only presents the complete form of ordinary children's books, but also playfully tells stories in the form of chapters, and even provides references, indexes and key picture information in accordance with the norms of academic books. I believe that some of the picture information provided in "The Secret of the Little Monkey's Office" is quite foreign to adults, but children must be happy to discover the details in these pictures, and perhaps this is the starting point for further in-depth exploration.

Still, even in the process of providing this seemingly formal information, the two creators remained humorous and playful. If you're interested, check out the official website of the two creators for the book, which has more references, including videos about the daily collaboration between authors and illustrators, that will surely open your eyes (laughs)! They've been playing from start to finish, and perhaps that's exactly what curious learners should be. (Reporter Ajia)

【Error correction】【Responsible editor: Li Ran】