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Maggie’s MonkeysBy Linda Sanders-Wells

Illustrated by Abby Carter

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Maggie’s MonkeysBy Linda Sanders-Wells

Illustrated by Abby CarterJLG Guide written by Karen Sandoval

Table of Contents

Book Summary/About the Author and Illustrator ........................................3

Prereading Activities.................................................................................4

Concepts about Print/Library Applications ..................................................6

Phonemic Awareness .................................................................................9

Life Science Connection............................................................................10

Vocabulary and Concept Development........................................................ 11

Reading Comprehension/Art Connection/Math Connection ............................12

Literary Response and Analysis .................................................................14

Reproducible: What Belongs in the Fridge?.................................................15

Reproducible: Monkey on a Stick...............................................................16

Reproducible: Monkey Maze......................................................................17

Reproducible: Food Picture Cards ..............................................................18

Reproducible: Words Are Everywhere! .......................................................19

Reproducible: Write All About It ............................................................. 20

Correlation to National Standards .............................................................21

Answer Key............................................................................................ 22

A school may reproduce copies of the pages in this book for use in its classrooms orlibrary. Any other reproduction is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be transmitted, stored, or recorded in any formwithout written permission from the publisher. For permission questions, contact Junior LibraryGuild.


Book Summary

Maggie has a special announcement: a family of pink monkeys has movedinto the refrigerator. Maggie’s parents and older sister Kate happily joinin Maggie’s game of pretend. The only one who doesn’t join the fun isMaggie’s older brother, Jack, who can’t understand why everyone is goingto so much trouble to support Maggie’s belief in the imaginary pets,especially since she’s “practically a baby” and still sucks her thumb.

Jack finally decides to join the game—with endearingand humorous results. When his friends laugh and makefun of Maggie and her monkeys, he steps up to defend hissister and her imaginary pets and loudly declares that themonkeys are here to stay.

About the Author and Illustrator

Linda Sanders-Wells found the inspiration for her delightful book,Maggie’s Monkeys, in her daughter’s imaginary friend, as well as in herown childhood experiences. Like Maggie, Ms. Sanders-Wells welcomed aninvisible monkey into her home when she was a child. The monkeywasn’t pink, but it did reside inside her pink toyrefrigerator. She found a second source of inspirationfor the story from her daughter, Abbie, whoseimaginary friend came from the pages of a favoritepicture book. Ms. Sanders-Wells recalls that, to herdaughter, this person “wasn’t imaginary—he was just afriend.”

Illustrator Abby Carter drew on memories of her daughter’s imaginaryfriend to bring Maggie’s story to life. Ms. Carter notes that “Derna” wasa constant presence, sharing breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the family

and hanging out with her daughter in the sandbox. Theplayful collaboration of story and pictures invites readers toenter the imaginary world of children and join the fun of asimple game of pretend play.


Prereading Activities

Using Prior KnowledgeBefore reading the book aloud to children, allow them to share some priorknowledge they have gained from their own experiences. Ask them:

What Belongs in the Fridge?Hand out copies of the What Belongs in the Fridge? activity sheeton page 15 of this guide to each student. Students can color thepage before or after the exercise.

Say aloud the name of each item in the refrigerator. Have studentsidentify the things that belong and the ones that do not belong as follows:

Have students circle the itemsthat belong in a refrigerator

Have students draw an X throughthe ones that do not belong.

Ask the students to name aloud eachitem that does NOT belong in thefridge. When students tell you thatthe monkey does not belong, tell themyou have a book about a girl whopretends that monkeys are living inher refrigerator—and introduce thebook, Maggie’s Monkeys.

What do you know about . . .. . . monkeys?. . . brothers and sisters?. . . imaginary friends?


Prereading Activities

Monkey Reading Sticks

Each student will need: one wooden craft stick scissors glue or paste crayons, markers, or colored pencils

Provide one copy of the monkey image on page 16 for each student. Havestudents color their monkey and then cut it out. Show students how toglue the monkey to a craft stick to make a reading stick.

Encourage students to use their reading sticks in avariety of activities. They can use them to:

point to target letters and/or sight words create a “parade” as they move like monkeys

around the classroom signal an answer to a question signal that they have a question

monkeyLanguage Arts ConnectionFind the Key!

Write the following list of words on theboard. Ask students what smaller word theysee in each word. Then read the list aloudand have students stress the sound of theword “key.”

monkey hockeydonkey turkey


Concepts about Print

Parts of a BookIdentifying and Analyzing Visual Arts

1. Show the students the book cover, front and back. Ask:

• What is on the front cover?• What is on the back cover?• Where is the title of the book?• Read aloud the title and ask: Who do you think Maggie is?• Why do you think there are monkeys on the cover?• What are the monkeys on the front cover doing?

2. Show students the title page. Ask:• What is this page called?• What do you see on this page?• Why do you think there are bananas on this page?

Library Applications: Book Display

Create a display that features books andother materials about monkeys and apes.Highlight Maggie’s Monkeys alongside otherfiction books about monkeys, including theCurious George books by H.A. Rey. Includenonfiction materials as well, such as booksabout monkeys, a list of fun facts, andposters or pictures of monkeys.

Discuss with students things real monkeyscan do versus what fictional monkeys areshown doing.

Invite students to use the nonfictionmaterials to find an interesting fact aboutmonkeys and share it with their class.

FunFactsAboutMonkeys



Alphabetic AwarenessMonkey MazeWrite the uppercase and lowercase letters Mm on the board. Havestudents use their monkey sticks to make the motions with you as youmove your finger up and down and around to trace the letters again overthe ones you just wrote.

M mMake a copy of the Monkey Maze(page 17) for each student. Tellstudents to color the squares with Mand m to create a path from themonkey to the bananas.

Feed the MonkeyMake a copy of the Food Picture Cards on page 18. Color and cut out thecards. Use the picture cards to target the letters m, b, and p in thefollowing activity.

Display a monkey reading stick (see page 5) and the picture cards.Tell students that it is time to “feed” the monkey. Explain that you arepretending that the monkey only eats foods that begin with the letter m.Have students identify the foods that begin with m and “feed” them tothe monkey. If students choose a picture card that is not correct, turnthe reading stick around to indicate the monkey won’t eat that food.

Continue the activity by naming a new targetletter and asking students to identify the matchingpicture cards. Extend the activity by creatingpicture cards for additional letters.



Alphabetic AwarenessLetter Match

Materials:Monkey reading stick (from page 5)Sticky notesMarker

Use a marker to write letters on sticky notes as follows: Write anuppercase A on one note and a lowercase a on another note, do the samewith B and b, and so on through the alphabet. You may want to focus onlyon consonants or only on vowels. Create enough notes so that each studentwill have one.

Then give each student one sticky note to place on his or hermonkey reading stick. Have students hold up their reading sticks as theysilently walk around the room and look for their matching letter.

When they have made an uppercase and lowercase match, have thepairs of students stand together. Ask the partners to hold up their sticksand name their letter for the class.

Continue the activity until all the letters have been matched.

Words Are Everywhere!One-to-One MatchingExplain to students that they can findwords almost everywhere: on signs, inbooks, on things, etc. Then give eachstudent a copy of page 19, Words AreEverywhere! Each object is missing alabel. With the students, say aloudthe name of the object. Then read thewords on the labels. Have the studentsdraw a line from the object to itscorrect label. They are matching thesound of the word with the object andwith the printed word.

G g


Phonemic Awareness

Rhyme TimeWrite the following rhyme on chart paper. Read aloud the rhyme andpoint out the rhyming words in lines 3, 4, and 5. Teach students therhyme. Repeat the rhyme, and have students supply a new rhyming wordfor the fourth line. Challenge students to repeat the rhyme several times,then change the word at the end of line 3 to begin a new set of rhymes.

1 Let’s have some fun today!2 Maggie’s monkeys want to play.3 When they say hat,4 We say cat.5 Hat, cat. Hat, cat.6 Hooray! Hooray!7 That’s the way to rhyme and play!

That’s Not a Match!Tell students you will say a group of four words. Ask them to listen forthe word that does not have the same beginning sound as the other words.Say the words. Tell students you will say the words again, and this timethey will hold up their monkey reading stick (see page 5) when they hearthe word with the beginning sound that does NOT match. Use word groupssuch as these:

moon milk hug monkeyplay sun pink panbanana book cap boyring fan four fishtoy time tap kite

Once students identify the word that doesn’t belong, discuss the sounds.Say: That’s right. Monkey, moon, and milk begin with the /m/ sound. Theword hug begins with the /h/ sound. Hug is not a match.

Continue the activity by having students listen for the ending ormiddle sound in new groups of words.


Life Science ConnectionA Home for an AnimalRemind students that Maggie’s monkeys live in her refrigerator. Ask: Is arefrigerator is a good home for a monkey? Discuss what makes a good homefor an animal. Give each student a copy of this page. Then have studentsdraw a line to match each animal on the left with its home on the right.

hive

cave

beach

nest

barn

stream

bird

fish

bear

crab

beecow


Vocabulary and Concept Development

Fact or Fiction?Ask students to share what they learned about Maggie’s monkeys. Usequestions such as these to prompt responses:

Where do Maggie’s monkeys live?What color is the monkeys’ fur?Why doesn’t Jack see Maggie’s monkeys?What do monkeys eat: bananas or banana pudding?

Record students’ responses on chart paper in a graphic organizer asshown below. Remind them that Maggie’s monkeys are not real. Then askstudents what they know about real monkeys, including what they looklike and where they live. Display nonfiction materials, such as books andpictures, and discuss some facts about real monkeys.

Use the information in the completed graphic organizer to makestatements about monkeys. Ask students to identify each statement asfact or fiction. Use the graphic organizer to show which is which.

FACT FICTION

Monkeys have brown fur. Monkeys have pink fur.

Monkeys live in tropical rainforests. Monkeys live in refrigerators.

Monkeys eat bananas and fruits. Monkeys are invisible.


Reading Comprehension

Pretend PlayExplain that Maggie’s family plays along with her and pretends that themonkeys really are living in their refrigerator. Reread the story and havestudents find examples of things the family does for the monkeys. Writeeach sentence below on chart paper and leave a blank for the students totell you what word to fill in as you go over how each family memberpretends.

Art ConnectionHave students use their imaginations to draw make-believe animals that they’d like to have at theirhouse. Encourage them to think about the kind ofanimal or animals, the size, the color, where theywould stay, what they would eat, and more. Giveeach student a large piece of drawing paper andcrayons or markers to complete their imaginaryanimal art.

Dad was careful not to shut the door on their ______.

Mom made ______ pudding and filled an extra bowl.

Kate helped dress the monkeys in invisible _____.

Dad and Maggie put a “Do Not Disturb” _____ on the door.

Kate said that maybe they were _____ monkeys.

Maggie told Jack that the monkeys speak ______.

Jack almost _____ on a monkey at the tea party.


Reading Comprehension

Do NOT Disturb the MonkeysRead aloud what happens when Maggie’s brother tries to play with themonkeys. Then ask: What happened when Maggie’s brother Jack tried toplay with the monkeys? (He sat on Mrs. Monkey. He tried to speak“monkey.” He chose the wrong book to read.)

Make Predictions: Have students think about what Jack’s friends might saywhen they hear that there are monkeys in the refrigerator. Tell them tothink about that as you read about Calvin and Grady.

Answer Questions: Ask students: Why does Maggie get so upset and startto cry? (Calvin and Grady are laughing and making fun of her.)

Make Predictions: Ask students to think about what Jack might do or sayto his friends. Then read aloud the next page.

Answer Questions: Ask students: Why does Jack change his attitude aboutthe monkeys? (He realizes that his friends are upsetting Maggie. He learnsthat it can be fun to join in the pretend play.)

Math Connection: Peek-a-Boo Monkeys

Maggie’s monkeys like to play peek-a-boo. There are a total of five (5)monkeys in the refrigerator. Help students figure out how many monkeysare hiding if Maggie opens the door and only sees ____ monkeys:


Literary Response and Analysiswith Writing Strategies

Humor in FictionExplain that humor is anything in a story that isfunny or makes the readers laugh. Point out thathumor can be something a character says or does orsomething funny in the illustrations.

Ask students to share examples of things inthe story that made them laugh. Reread the part ofthe story that tells how Maggie’s brother tried toplay with the monkeys. Guide students to discuss allthe things he did “wrong” and why they are funny.

Ask students to talk about the illustrations inthe book and how they added to the humor.

Write All About ItAsk students to tell about their favorite part of the story. Use the formbelow, found on page 20, to help them write about their favorite part. Ifthere is time, have students illustrate their responses.

My favorite part of the story was

I liked this part because

I would like to read this book, too.


What Belongs in the Fridge?


Monkey on a Stick

monkey


Monkey Maze

M m m a g N O fr d M B z Q k nH p m m T w l ej G n m s V U ac q o m M m L WY b x K n M I ri Q E d u m M m


Food Picture Cards

m b p


Words Are Everywhere!

bank

bugs

WELCOME

TRASH

Gas 3 milesahead

STOP

Happy Birthday


Write All About It

My favorite part of the story was

I liked this part because

I would like to read this book, too.


Correlations to National StandardsFor Grades K–1

Content Area Standard Number Standard Objective

Language Arts: English NL-ENG.K-12.1 Reading for Perspective

Language Arts: English NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding

Language Arts: English NL-ENG.K-12.3 Evaluation Strategies

Language Arts: English NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills

Language Arts: English NL-ENG.K-12.5 Communication Strategies

Language Arts: English NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge

Language Arts: English NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills

Fine Arts: Visual Arts NA–VA.K–4.6Making ConnectionsBetween Visual Arts andOther Disciplines

Mathematics NM–NUM.PK–2.3Computer Fluently andMake ReasonableEstimates

Science NS.K-4.3 Life Science

Source: http://www.education-world.com/standards/national/


Answer Key

Page 4: Using Prior Knowledge: Answers will vary.

Page 4: What Belongs in the Fridge? Circle: apple, milk, pie; Cross out:candle, brush, monkey, and book.

Page 5: Language Arts Connection: monkey, donkey, hockey, turkey.

Page 6: Parts of a Book• What is on the front cover? A: monkeys, boy, girl, fridge, title,

author, illustrator• What is on the back cover? A: two girls, bed, pillow, rig, box,

mirror, price, numbers, barcode• Where is the title of the book? A: on the front cover, on the spine,

on the title page• What are the monkeys on the front cover doing? A: peeking out of

a refrigerator and smiling• Who do you think Maggie is? A: Answers will vary.• Why do you think there are monkeys on the cover? A: the story is

about a girl and her monkeys• What is this page called? A: the title page• What do you see on this page? A: bananas, author, illustrator,

publisher• Why do you think there are bananas on this page? A: bananas are

a food that monkeys eatPage 7: Monkey Maze. A:

Page 7: Feed the Monkey. A: Letter m: milk, muffin, mushrooms; letter b:bread, bananas, broccoli; letter p: pumpkin, peas, pineapple.


Page 8: Words Are Everywhere! A:

Page 9: Rhyme Time. A: Possible answers include bat, fat, mat, pat, rat,sat, brat, flat, chat, slat, scat, spat, splat, that.

Page 9: That’s Not a Match! A:moon milk hug monkeyplay sun pink panbanana book cap boyring fan four fishtoy time tap kite

Page 10: Life Science Connection: A Home for an Animal A:bird : nestfish : streambear : cavecrab : beachbee : hivecow : barn

Page 11: Fact or Fiction? Additional facts or fiction will vary.

Page 12: Pretend Play. A: Dad was careful not to shut the door on theirtails. Mom made banana pudding and filled an extra bowl. Kate helpeddress the monkeys in invisible clothes. Dad and Maggie put a “Do NotDisturb” sign on the door. Kate said that maybe they were polar monkeys.Maggie told Jack that the monkeys speak English. Jack almost sat on amonkey at the tea party.

jar: bugspiggy bank: bankdoormat: WELCOMEtrashcan: TRASHstop sign: STOPsign: Gas, 3 miles aheadcake: Happy Birthday


Page 13: Do NOT Disturb the Monkeys. What happened when Maggie’sbrother tried to interact with the monkeys? A: He sat on Mr. Monkey. Hetried to speak “monkey.” He chose the wrong book to read. MakePredictions: Answers will vary. Answer Questions: Calvin and Grady arelaughing and making fun of her. Make Predictions: Answers will vary.Answer Questions: He realizes that his friends are upsetting Maggie. Helearns that it can be fun to join in the pretend play.

Page 13: Math Connection: Peek-a Boo Monkeys. A:

Page 14: Humor in Fiction. A: Answers will vary.

Page 14: Write All About It. A: Answers will vary.

5 – 3 = 2 5 – 2 = 3

5 – 1 = 4 5 – 4 = 1

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