J.D. Lester

Mommy Calls Me Monkeypants is a short and sweet story about a variety of mother and child relationships. Its bookended by a human parent and child (who wears pajamas with monkeys on the pants, hence the book title), and is populated in between with ladybugs, peacocks, rhinoceros, and so forth. Each mother in the parent-child dyad has a special pet name for her offspring based on a telling characteristic (e.g., "Mommy calls me Peekaboo ... her bouncy baby roo," says the kangaroo joey). Throughout the book, affection is the abundantly clear theme. The book also offers children a number of rhyming types, an expanding vocabulary, and colorful illustrations.… (more)

Lester, J.D. (2009). Mommy Calls Me Monkeypants. New York: Random House.

9780375845024

Mommy Calls Me Monkeypants is a boardbook that shares the various nicknames, inspired by many animals that a mother has given to her daughter.

While this book is certainly cute and would lend itself to naming various types of animals, the lack of a father figure is noticeable.

While the child and mother are shown at the beginning and end of the story, children from various background should have an equal chance of relating to the story because throughout most of the story, the parent and child figures appear as animals (But the gender of both the parent and child are confirmed by the text).

Activities to Do with the Book:

This is a good mother-child read aloud. After reading it, a parent could tell a story of how the child gained some of his or her nicknames.

This book could also be used to help teach a young toddler to name the various animals incorporated into the illustrations.

Since the book includes the phrase "Mommy calls me..." multiple times, a toddler could help the parent "read" the book.


Favorite Quotes:

“Mommy call me Monkeypants...just why I do not know."

"Mommy calls me Splishy-splash....'cause we play in a puddle."

"Mommy calls me Funny Face...and look-she has one, too!"… (more)