One day George saw a man.

He had on a large yellow straw hat.

The man saw George, too.

"What a nice little monkey," he thought,

"I would like to take him home with me."

The man put his hat on the ground,

And of course George was curious.

He came down from the tree

To look at the large yellow hat.

The hat had been on the man's head.

George thought it would be nice to have it on his own.

He picked it up

And put it on.

The hat covered George's head. He couldn't see.

The man picked him up quickly and popped him into a bag.

George was caught.

George is a curious little monkey (hence the title of the book), and from the very beginning, we can see George's curiosity getting him into trouble.

George isn't just curious; he's also innocent. Maybe it's because he's a monkey…? He just doesn't know any better than to leave strange people's hats alone.

The language is simple. It's easy to read. The sentences are short. Like this.

The simplicity of the language (and the action) clues us into the fact that the book is targeting children who are just learning to read.