Tales of the Monkey King

Stacey L. Penney is a librarian in the Queen Elizabeth II Library at The
Memorial University of Newfoundland.

The Monkey King is an ancient Chinese tale about an impish monkey who
has many different adventures. This story is retold by Benjamнn
Santamarнa as part of his real-life role as a child-care worker in the
homeless shelters of Mexico. Santamaria relates the Monkey King’s
story to a group of homeless children to alleviate their nightmares and
allow them to sleep.

The tale of the Monkey King tells of how the little monkey overcomes
large obstacles to beat death and save his followers. It is intended to
empower the street children of Mexico, who must deal with real-life
horrors on a daily basis. However, some details are missing from the
re-telling of the Monkey King’s journeys, leaving the reader to guess
how some situations unfolded.

The story is beautifully illustrated by Brian Deines, who uses oil
paints to detail the shadowy figures in the tale. The illustrations are
dark and illuminate the scariest elements of the legend, such as the
four-armed King of Demons and the three ominous Judges of Death. The
main character, the Monkey King, is represented as a human with a
monkey’s head and tail.

Overall, Tales of the Monkey King is an interesting story. However,
missing details about the monkey’s adventures make the story choppy
and the scary illustrations might be disturbing to a small child. The
book would be very therapeutic for a child who is dealing with trauma,
but it is not appropriate for story-time activities. Recommended with
reservations.