Hey Little Monkey Come Down From Your Tree,
Inside These Books Are Wonders To See…
An Enormous Toy Factory ● A Town Full Of Castles ● Magical Story Books
Dancing Purple Hippos ● Talking Pink Fuzzy Bunnies ● A Witch’s Curse
Trees That Grow Jewels ● A Mysterious Box ● Mystical Creatures ● And More
Written for both the older child and the inner child.
Age Range: 7 and up ● Level: 3 and up
Reedy’s Monkey Mind Tales® Anthology Series is a beautifully illustrated collection of 24 short stories divided into 4 books, with 6 stories in each book.
Written in the vein of Shel Silverstein, Roald Dahl, and Dr. Seuss, each story looks at the side effects of our social structure and how it affects children and adults. As a child, author Steve Michael Reedy was inspired by the children’s cartoons, movies, and books of the late 1960s and early 1970s, many of which had philosophical undertones. Later, after working as a counselor with children and adults, he decided to write a book about what he learned using a children’s fairytale format. He did this for two reasons. First, he believed that the information would be more interesting if written with witches, toy factories, magical storybooks, and rhyme. Second, it would be more fun to write.
The themes in the Monkey Mind Tales® Anthology Series are multilayered, universal, and reflect the timeless issues that are always with us no matter what generation we may find ourselves in. Reedy also wrote the series as a means to create open conversations between adults and children.
The stories were published in the order they were written, each with different themes, locations, and characters. The stories can be read in any order—though there is a story arch that begins with Tales For Your Monkey’s Mind and ends with Tales For Tra-La-La Day, where the series concludes.
Binge readable, the Monkey Mind Tales® Anthology Series will take readers on a whimsical journey through the puzzling world of humans with hypnotic prose, unique humor, and fairytale fantasy. Reedy’s engaging insight, world building, and quirky imagery will leave you feeling elated and inspired from the trip.
Tales For Your Monkey’s Mind
Tales For Your Monkey’s Mind is the first book in the Monkey Mind Tales® Anthology Series. In the book a traveler offers to take the reader on a journey where they will meet several interesting characters along the way. Alex daydreams of working in the Wallerwood Toy Factory, and he sets off to learn the secrets kept hidden behind the factory’s front doors. Jessica wants to become the best clown that Clown Town has ever seen. Then she learns that being a clown is not as much fun as she thought. Angela worries about what will happen to her when she dies, until she discovers there are others things to think about instead. Andrew wants a magical storybook of his very own, but then he hears a story that may change his mind. Josh and Kalyn accidentally break a witch’s spell that was cast over the children of their town, and they set off on a journey tomake things right. Little Fey searches for something to make her happy one-day, but she realizes that her search is pushing her happiness further away.
Talk Nerdy With Us says, “The charm in this book is that these life lessons are fleshed out in a manner that children will understand and adults will applaud.” A review from Clarion Reviews says it, “could prove to be one of those rare juvenile fiction books that survives adolescence to one day be read fondly by (or to) another generation.”
In it’s first year of printing, Tales For Your Monkey’s Mind won several book awards including the 2016 “Purple Dragonfly Award,” the 2016 “Moonbeam Children’s Book Award,” the 2015 “Book & Author” book of the year award, and an international book award for children’s fables from “Reader’s Favorite.”
More Tales For Your Monkey’s Mind
More Tales For Your Monkey’s Mind is the second book in the Monkey Mind Tales® Anthology Series where the traveler returns to take the reader on another fantastic adventure. As they visit faraway towns, the characters they meet are anything but forgettable. Tilly Tiller and Cropper Roo meet a chef who wants to cook for their town, but they soon learn there’s a hidden cost and a secret behind her dancing purple hippos. James lives in a town run by a giant clock, and he sets off on a journey to stop time. Jordy Fin discovers he can change his world with a thought, and he learns just how powerful thoughts can be. Katie awakens to find that her town has been asleep for years, and she begins waking people up to ask what’s real and what’s a dream. Piper must face a hoard of pink fuzzy bunnies to save herself and her friends from a device that could ruin their town. Max is having trouble fitting into a town full of nutty people, until he discovers a hidden connection that he shares with everyone.
Reviewers hailed it as “fun, satisfying, and thoroughly enjoyable for both kids and adults,” “an entertaining collection of empowering children’s tales,” and “an electric work of children’s fiction.” It was entered in one contest, The Royal Dragonfly Award, (a literary contest not directed at children’s literature) in 2017, and won first place for Short Story Collections.
Tales From Bombast’s Bookshelf
Tales From Bombast’s Bookshelf is the third book in the Monkey Mind Tales® Anthology Series, and presented as a collection of six stories that the traveler handpicked for the reader from a mysteriously unusual traveling bookshelf, which is procured and cared for by a man named Bombast and his wife, Pix. In the book, Clary finds a strange box while walking through the woods, and soon it’s up to her, with her dog named Dog, to protect every child who lives near the Dandaleen forest. Zach need to buy a big pile of stuff, and sets out to trap a Kerpuffin; a tiny creature that is said to wear clothes made of jewels. The Treebrights live inside a tree, hidden from a fearsome creature called the Bundletooth, but one day it starts knocking and asks to be let in. Weebundle wants to live in a candy castle, though he soon finds out that its maker may not be as trustworthy as he thought. The Doodles and the Glixies are at war with each other, but something is coming that might save them all, if it doesn’t eat them first. The Tendlebees must answer a question to get back their wings, though every answer they try creates a new question.
Reviewers wrote that it was “remarkably original,” “brilliant,” “a treat to read,” and one reviewer said, “Books like these are why I love reading!” Bombast won the “Living Now” first place national award for “inspirational fiction.” The Living Now awards are for books that “help us improve the quality of our lives… to enrich reader’s lives and promote global sustainability.” Bombast also won the Reader’s Favorite Award for children’s fables, and the the Purple Dragonfly Award for children’s short stories.
Tales For Tra-La-La Day
Tales For Tra-La-La Day is the final book in the Monkey Mind Tales® Anthology Series where six extraordinary stories are told by the traveler on his way to celebrate the most beloved holiday of the year, Tra-La-La Day. It’s a holiday book, and in it Melody learns how a musician’s song almost ruined Tra-La-La Day and why the people of her town sing the song only once a year. Charley wants to win the “Vogsetter Tra-La-La Day Centerpiece-Making Contest,” until he discovers a problem with the contest that could threaten his entire town. The Iceling Queen must face a menacing creature that threatens the Spirit of Humans, but if she doesn’t return to her castle before the sun has set, she will turn into a flurry of snow and be lost forever. Mageltine drops a wish down the Frivoldene Well, but the way her wish is granted drives her whole town insane. Crispin wants to be popular, so he hires a creature to threaten his school on Tra-La-La Day. His plan is to become a hero by defeating the creature, but the creature has plans of its own. Every child in Bridledon is afraid of Miss Pinberry, until a lost traveler discovers her secret and threatens to ruin her plan to control the town’s children.
With this final book, Reedy ends the series with a crescendo, with a magical holiday that readers will want to celebrate each year. One reviewer said that Reedy “saved the best for last.” Others have said it is “imaginative, with immersive detail and deliciously complex characters” and “has the gleam of brilliance and wisdom.” And is, “bursting with delightful stories that will captivate your imagination and evoke a sense of wonder.” It recently won first place in the Reader Views Awards and is awaiting announcements from others.
An Excerpt From Tales For Your Monkey’s Mind, “The Spells Over Evercaster”
“Come along now,” said the witch as she opened her cottage door. “I am not going to eat you or turn you into a rabbit if that’s what you’re thinking.”
With much hesitation, and a great deal of reluctance, they both stood up and followed the witch inside her home. The witch closed the door behind them and pointed toward some chairs around a large wooden table in the center of the room.
“Sit down,” she said. “I’ll make us some tea.”
Josh and Kalyn did as she said and sat down at the table.
“So,” said the witch, as she put her kettle over the fire, “what brings the two of you up here so late at night? Do you want a spell? Do you want a potion? Do you want revenge, or perhaps some commotion?”
“No,” Josh managed to say, but did not know what to say next. He looked at Kalyn for help, but she was distracted by a black bird that had landed on the table beside her.
“Then what is it?” the witch asked as she turned away from the kettle and brought her gaze back to the two of them. “Do you have warts, worms, bunions, boils…?”
“No,” Kalyn interrupted, “We broke one of your spells, and we were hoping you could un-break it for us.”
