Tugg and Teeny is about a monkey named Teeny and a gorilla named Tugg who go on adventures with their jungle friends. They help their friends with their problems and explore the jungle and learn lessons along the way. We think this book would be be good for kids at a lower reading level than second and third graders. This book has good life lessons. In Chapter One, it teaches you that with teamwork you will succeed. Chapter Two also emphasizes that life is not about winning; it is about having fun. However, in Chapter Three, Tugg shouldn’t have teased Teeny about the kite being a bird. The animals’ names all rhyme, except for Violet the warthog. In the illustrations, Teeny looks like a boy; perhaps a bow could have helped us know that Teeny is a girl. This is a good book for younger aged children. We personally think this book is cute and enjoyable.

J. Patrick Lewis was born in Gary, Indiana and moved to Ohio when he married. He grew up to be a wonderful children’s poet and author. One of our favorite riddles of his is: “I am a red, yellow, blue and green answering machine. What am I?” The answer is “a parrot.” Christopher Denise currently lives in Rhode Island.