Matthew Porter

Your young reader will go bananas for 'Monkey World' by local artist Matthew Porter

Charming paintings and verse help lovable primates illuminate the alphabet

By Kathy Schultz - August 7, 2008

It's a monkey's world -- we're just living in it.

Seattle artist and Bluebottle Gallery co-owner Matthew Porter doesn't just monkey around when it comes to painting adorable, wide-eyed animals. In his first book, "ABC," he painted an owl, a penguin and a zebra, among others.

But in his new book, he gets serious about monkeys. So serious, in fact, he's created an entire "Monkey World" (Simply Read Books, 2008, $16.95) of illustrations from A to Z. The just-released children's book features 26 lovable primates engaged in various occupations, one for each letter of the alphabet.

A poet as well as a painter, Porter has attached a short verse to each letter and illustration, from the D in Detective and the H in Hula Hoop to the V in Ventriloquist and the Y in Yoga.

Here's an example, reprinted with the author's permission:
Astronaut
When flying to a distant moon,
You don't eat breakfast with a spoon.
In rockets high in outer space,
Things can float from place to place.
Scrambled eggs and crumbs from cakes
Hang in the air like soft snowflakes.
When astronauts fancy a bite,
They always chew with mouths shut tight.
If they were to munch and shout,
Bits of food might float out.

Porter has also created a 2009 Monkey World wall calendar ($13.95). Charming simians float high in the sky in hot air balloons in September, and ski on snow-covered hills in December. But my favorite is October, when monkey-faced trick-or-treaters dress up as fanged Draculas and horned devils.

You can dress your own little monkey in a onesie or T-shirt ($20-$34) from Porter's Red Panda children's clothing collection, which he launched along with his wife, Andrea. Monkeys grin from each of the locally screen-printed organic cotton garments, which are available online and at the gallery in infant to toddler sizes, in pink, blue, brown and mint green.