I think this book will be useful in the classroom because it will teach children to be helpful and to lend a hand. It also might encourage them to help their parents in the kitchen more often.

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked it because the language was very clear and simple, and the illustrations also matched the writing on the page very well. For example, on page nine Jimmy’s mom says, “George, please help me look for it.” She is talking about the necklace she lost while baking. The illustration clearly shows her looking distressed with her arms stretched out towards George. It makes the emotion that she feels about the lost necklace more believable. I did not like this book, however, because the characters were not well developed. One of the characters on the first page is not named, which made me think I had missed the first page of the story while I was reading it. Also, the author talks about a boy Jimmy but he is never present in the story, and I don’t know much about Jimmy’s mom who is the other main character besides the monkey George. I think more description or background information is needed to make the characters more believable. I think the central message of the story is that following one’s curiosity can be very beneficial. George ended up finding Jimmy’s mom’s necklace for her inside the cake he decided to try. ( )