Summer of the Monkeys

December's book is SUMMER of the MONKEYS.  Boy!  Are we enjoying this book!  I think this one is my favorite story so far.
The first week, we learned all about the author, Wilson Rawls and how he loved telling stories, and writing stories.  He grew up in a very rural home in the Ozark hills and since there wasn't a school nearby- he was home schooled by his mother.  She would read him books like Little Red Hen, and Little Red Riding Hood.  Wilson thought those were GIRL books, and had little to no interest in reading anything at all.  Until....his grandmother sent the book The Call of the Wild by Jack London.  That book became his most prized possession, and he carried it with him every where he went.  He decided at a young age that he was going to tell stories with DOGS in them.   Where the Red Fern Grows was his first published story.  Summer of the Monkeys came later, and we're so glad it did.

Last week, we used our creative minds to build some humane monkey traps.  We used things from my recycle bin, using apples as monkey bait - and I've got to say how impressed I am with the clever engineering they were able to come up with to catch monkeys of all sizes. 

This week- we will wrap up our discussion on the book while tasting a "huckleberry pie that could put muscles on a grapevine".
******** As an incentive - I'll award all readers who have read up to Chapter 15 ************
************with their own vintage Ozark Jay Berry pocket weapon. ***************
***Readers who finish the entire book will also be supplied ammunition to go with the weapon***