Juji

Foreward by Dr. Jane Goodall Monkeypotamus is one part monkey (Benjamin Ciccati, illustrator) and one part hippopotamus (Chip Royston, author) and we are introducing two new characters to the world of children's literature. Juji, our lovable chimp character, represents the realm of the natural world and Emelia, our precocious human character, represents the realm of the human world. She embodies the innocent curiosity and immediate compassion of childhood. We hope to inspire our fellow humans to embrace that essence through Emelia, whose unfiltered perception of life creates new possibilities for being in the world. Taken together, they bridge the difference between humans and chimpanzees leaving the reader with a sense of global interconnectedness. As an author/illustrator team, the Monkeypotamus philosophy of positive education and community contribution is so closely aligned with that of Dr. Jane Goodall that she agreed to write the foreword for Juji (who we named after her). Our intention is to introduce a series of books full of enthusiasm, compassion, and universal life lessons through which we create a world of possibility.