"A long time ago, when the world was quite new," a monkey sits in the jungle and is very impressed with the bright colors of the birds flying overhead. In comparison, he finds himself and all the other animals "as dull as an elephant's poo."

Then the monkey finds a paintbox with two brushes. He starts painting the other jungle animals as they are sleeping. He paints a leopard bright yellow with black spots; he puts brown squares on a giraffe, a white stripe on a skunk, and white circles around a bear's eyes. The monkey is quite proud of himself and finds what he has done very entertaining. The animals come up with their own playful scheme which leaves the monkey with his own bright colors. They have the last and longest laugh.

This delightful and playful children's book written by Steve Smallman and wonderfully illustrated by Nick Schon reveals that creativity is dandy but we want to be careful not to entertain ourselves at the expense of others.