When the Monkeys Came Back
Grade 1-4-When she was a girl in Costa Rica, Do?a Marta always heard the howler monkeys in the hillside forest announce the coming of day and night. The valley's quiet ways were altered with the arrival of cars, but her father's decision to sell the trees changed the area even more. Within five years, the trees-and the monkeys-had disappeared. Years later, after her father's death, Do?a Marta persuades her husband to let her use the hillside land, and slowly, patiently, she plants and waters her seedlings and, with her children's help, she restores the forest. Franklin's text has a wonderful cadence, with subtle repetitions that underscore the links of present and past. Similarly, Roth's colorful paintings reveal not only the landscape's beauty but also the length of time such projects require. Watercolor silhouettes of a monkey above the blocks of text serve as a constant visual reminder of the woman's motivation. Unlike picture books that offer simple solutions to ecological destruction, Franklin's book reveals the years of hard work required to reverse the results of swift destruction of animal habitats. Over the course of the story, Do?a Marta ages from a girl to a weathered, white-haired but strong woman. That she lives to see the return of the monkeys is a richly deserved and satisfying ending.Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MNCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.