Swiendlo swa mfenhe (Xitsonga)

Monkey business follows a monkey family who are watching a human family at a picnic. They copy the humans and try drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. After becoming ill and also setting fire to the forest, they decide that some human habits are not worth copying.

The Little Library Life Skills Kit (along with the Literacy and Numeracy Kits) was initially developed to respond to a need for high quality, indigenous books for the younger members of our communities. After ten years successful use in schools, the kits have now been revised to meet the changing needs of learners, schools and the new education policies. The Life Skills Kit focuses on promoting life skills to learners of five to nine years of age, as stated in the National Curriculum Statement. Monkey business is written in verse with a simple rhyming scheme. A monkey family watch a human family having a picnic. They watch them drink beer and smoke cigarettes, and copy them after the humans leave. The curious monkeys feel ill from the beer and cigarettes and also set fire to the forest. Eventually they decide that some human habits are not worth copying.