There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen!

Joan Buchanan is a writer, storyteller and instructor and author of
Taking Care of My Cold.

Sheree Fitch, winner of the Atlantic Provinces Booksellers’ Choice
Award, has another winner in her latest publication: she has won a Mr.
Christie Award with this amusing story in verse about gorillas,
chimpanzees, and orangutans overrunning young Wilga Welloby’s house.
Fitch’s enjoyment of story and language is obvious in imaginative
episodes and effervescent word play. Catchy rhythms, energetic end
rhymes and lots of internal rhyme make the book work as a whole. She
uses different rhyme schemes and patterns, but they all work and fit the
story line. Although the ending is predictable and has been done before,
it is nonetheless effective and sure to please.

Mongeau’s illustrations’ askew perspective and dimensions capture
the text’s zany, frenzied fantasies. Children should particularly
enjoy the details, the rich colors, and all the active apes.

This book is fun to read aloud or to oneself. It’s hard to pin an
audience age on it because I wouldn’t want older readers to miss
“forty-nine Mounties . . . blowing bubblegum.”