Curious George Rides a Bike

Certain characters and books that retain a strong sense of the aesthetic of the1950s from whence they came, have somehow survived to entertain successive generations of children. Bemelmans’ Madeline and Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham’s Harry the Dirty Dog spring to mind as other obvious examples. George’s ability to get into all manner of scrapes through being distracted by his curiosity clearly still has popular appeal. In this story, our favourite monkey is entrusted with the task of delivering newspapers on his bicycle, but soon decides to teach us origami with his wares instead. His inability to pay attention leads to a broken front wheel, but this proves a blessing as his resourceful unicycling skills lead to an appearance as a circus performer, and a reunion with his owner, ‘the man with the yellow hat’. All this wonderfully improbable nonsense is delivered through faithful reproductions of the original illustrations, charmingly executed in that classic ‘New Yorker’ style, with the three colours plus black separations.