Similarities

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         There were not many similarities between the Summer of the Monkeys movie and the Summer of the Monkeys book, but there were a few.  They included the storm that led to the Jay Berry capturing the monkeys.  Also almost everyone in the movie and the book had the same names except Papa.  Another part that was the same was that Jay Berry attempted using traps and apples to capture the monkeys but then ended up failing.  Jay Berry did end up going to the library with grandpa to learn more about the monkeys and how to capture them.  He also found the monkeys at the whiskey still, drunk.  After the storm he captured the monkeys, took them back home and placed them in the corn crib so that they could recover.  

 

Differences

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         The Summer of the Monkeys movie and book were very different.  In the movie Papa’s name was John Lee, while in the book his name was Bob Lee.  In the movie also, Rowdy was not a bluetick hound he was a different breed of dog.  There were also a different amount of monkeys, and the monkeys had different names.  They also added in three boys named Toby, Jobert and Phillip who were not in the book.  They also added a man named Bayliss Hatcher who was the owner of the whiskey still, but in the book the Gravely boys owned it.  In the book there was a girl named Patty that worked at the general store but she was replaced by another girl named Rose who was studying at the library.  At the end of the movie Daisy is given the money to get her leg fixed, however, she never goes to the hospital to get it fixed.  The pony that Jay Berry wanted to buy was crippled with a cut on her leg but in the movie the pony was healthy.  When Jay Berry received the money from capturing the monkeys, in the book he received $156 but in the movie he received only $85.  He also didn’t give Daisy $6 for helping him around the house.  In the book grandma played a part in persuading Jay Berry to give the money to Daisy to get her leg fixed, but she wasn’t placed in the movie at all.  While Jay was in the process of capturing the monkeys, Rowdy got hit by a trap thrown by Toby.  In the movie there was a fairy ring but they gave it the title of an angel ring.  At the beginning of the movie they stated that it was a French circus, but they never mentioned that in the book.  

 

Suggestions

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          The Summer of the Monkeys movie was very good in itself but, compared to the book they were not very similar.  In the movie Rowdy was not a bluetick hound and making him a bluetick hound would give better imagery related to the book.  Also in the movie they changed Papa’s name from Bob to John and keeping the same names would not affect the movie’s quality, but it would make it more similar to the book.  In the movie Bayliss Hatcher was added as the owner of the whiskey still instead of the Gravely boys and removing him from the movie would give Jay Berry more of a role in catching the monkeys.  In the movie the producers added the boys named Toby, Jobert, and Phillip and removing them would keep the same storyline as the book.  In the movie it starts where the monkeys ran from the circus and placing that scene into the book would better explain how the monkeys got away.