written by Melissa Stewart & Allen Young
illustrated by Nicole Wong
Inside Jacket: When you think of chocolate, you might think of a candy bar, a birthday cake, or a glass of chocolate milk. But where does chocolate comes from? Its main ingredient is actually the cocoa bean, which grows in tropical rain forests. These trees can’t survive without the help of the animals and other living things that share their habitat. The seeds, pods, flowers, leaves, stems, and roots of the cocoa tree depend on organisms like the pollen-sucking midge, the aphid-munching anole, and yes, even the brain-eating coffin fly. In the rain forest, every living thing has as important part to play. Even the monkeys.
Opening: Chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate ice cream. Moist, fudgy brownies. What makes all these desserts so delicious? Chocolate, of course. But you can’t make chocolate without . . . cocoa beans.
About the Story: Cocoa beans are the seeds of a cocoa tree, which grow in the tropical rain forests of South and Central America. First the beans are dried in the sn, then roasted, and smashed into paste, with the liquid squeezed out. Then other ingredients are mix in to make it assorted kinds of chocolate. Than is the process, but how do we get the cocoa bean to grow for our chocolate? The process of getting the cocoa bean is the subject of this nonfiction picture book. In reverse fashion, we learn how the coca bean grows from seed to chocolate.
The cocoa bean is in the cocoa pod—the fruit of the tree. The cocoa pod needs the cocoa flowers (and midges), which need the cocoa leaves (and maggots), which need the cocoa stem (and lizards), which needs the cocoa roots (and fungi). The cocoa pods, flowers, leaves, stems, and roots . . . ad monkeys. Thus, no monkeys, no chocolate.
What I Thought: No Monkeys, No Chocolate is very informative and at times a bit gross, which kids generally like. I love chocolate and have been to a rain forest. I would never have thought that the monkeys howling in those tall trees would have anything to do with the chocolate I would buy at a family market the next day. This story also shows how often living things are interconnected. We may see that in the human world to some extent, but rarely put a lot of thought into how living things are interconnected and work together to make our food. We say corn comes from corn plants, which come from corn seeds. Apples come from apple trees, which come from apple seeds. Usually that is the extent of our thought. Yet, our food has many more things involved than just the plant and seeds.No Monkeys, No Chocolate explains this in a way children—and adults—can understand.
I love the illustrations. Running edge-to-edge, the images are life-like and close-up so every detail of a leaf, cocoa pod, and the monkey—as he scatters cocoa beans onto the jungle floor-can be seen. This subject could be dry if not for the a pair of bookworms running commentary in the upturned bottom right corner of each spread.
“Is a cocoa pod like an iPod,” he asks
“Very funny. No, it’s more like a pea pod,” she replied.
I really like those two bookworms. The comic relief they provide breaks up the serious information. The commentary runs right along with the spread’s information, so in a way they reinforce the subject with their comedic remarks, helping the reader remember the information. If one is not observant, it could take a while to notice these two bookworms. Their comments run cover to cover. More aspiring authors there is a timeline from the author’s inspiration to the publishing of No Monkeys, No Chocolate. (click here)
No Monkeys, No Chocolate would make a good text in a biology or botany sections of science classes for youngsters. The book is a good example of the interdependence of living things in an ecosystem—nothing exists in a vacuum. They will be more receptive to this kind of “text” than the usually large tomes used by school systems. No Monkeys, No Chocolate is a nice picture book for home schooling families and for kids who like to learn. After the story, the author wrote more about cocoa and rain forests, including how kids can help keep rain forests alive and thriving Like On a Beam of Light, No Monkeys, No Chocolate is terrific nonfiction that makes learning fun.
Junior Library Guild Selection
Nicole Wong, illustrator website
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Ages: 5 to 8
© 2013 by Charlesbridge, used with permission
Text copyright © 2013 by Melissa Stewart & Allen Young
Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Nicole Wong
- Review: No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart (wakingbraincells.com)