Clara’s Verdict
Jamie Smart’s Bunny vs Monkey series has been a staple of primary school classrooms and children’s bookshelves for years — a British comic institution in the making. The audiobook edition of Intergalactic Monkey Business! demonstrates that the formula translates beautifully to audio, which is not something every heavily visual children’s property manages. Smart understands with precision what children aged roughly six to eleven want from comedy: jokes that actually land, chaos they can trust not to turn nasty or frightening, and the specific pleasure of watching the forces of sensible order contend with the forces of absolute mayhem. This series delivers all three in abundance, and the audio format adds something the page cannot entirely provide: a narrator performing the characters with evident, infectious delight. At 4.8 stars from over 430 UK listeners, this is among the most enthusiastically received children’s audiobooks I’ve encountered in some time.
About the Audiobook
The series premise is elegantly simple. Bunny is essentially a sensible creature trying to maintain some semblance of order in The Woods, while Monkey is a chaos agent committed to derailing everything with maximum creativity and minimum regard for consequences. The dynamic is timeless — good-natured competence pitted against anarchic mischief — and Smart has the comic architecture completely sorted after years of developing these characters. In Intergalactic Monkey Business!, a newcomer arrives: Little Monkey, who is smaller, cuter, and somehow even stranger than the original article. Investigating Little Monkey’s motives leads Bunny and the usual cast of woodland characters far beyond their natural habitat — all the way to outer space and Planet Monkey itself, where, as the blurb promises, the laughs are positively intergalactic.
The jokes operate on multiple levels, which is a significant part of what makes Smart’s work durable. Parents listening alongside their children will find enough wit and comic texture to keep them genuinely entertained rather than simply enduring the experience. Smart has clearly not forgotten that adults are often present during story time, and he includes enough material for an older sensibility without making anything inappropriate for the younger listeners it primarily serves. The pace is brisk and confident, the plotting carries proper stakes even while remaining safely silly, and the climax delivers exactly the kind of satisfaction that keeps children asking for the next book immediately upon finishing the current one. At two hours and one minute, it is ideal for a car journey or two bedtime sessions.
The Narration
Ciaran Saward gives a genuinely excellent performance throughout. He distinguishes the characters with clarity and consistency — Bunny sounds measured and faintly put-upon, carrying the patience of someone who has long since stopped being genuinely surprised by Monkey’s behaviour; Little Monkey sounds dangerously unpredictable in a way that is delightful rather than alarming; the supporting woodland cast are rendered with distinct voices that children can follow easily even through faster, more chaotic sequences. Saward’s comic timing is sharp without ever being showy. He understands that children’s audio comedy lives in the moments just before the disaster becomes apparent, and he manages those pauses with care. This is the kind of narration that makes a strong book even better.
What Readers Say
Parents are enthusiastic across the board, with several specifically noting the series as a genuine tool for encouraging reluctant readers and listeners. « It’s funny, full of silly stuff that keeps them laughing and it actually gets them reading instead of staring at a screen, which is a win in my book, » wrote one parent of ten-year-olds — a testimonial that captures something real about the series’ appeal. Another bought the audiobook for a six-year-old birthday and called it perfect. A third described a child sitting down on Christmas Day, opening the book, and reading independently and happily — about as good a review as any children’s title can receive. One parent particularly enjoyed the communal dimension of performing different voices alongside the narrator: « it makes story time even more fun. » The picture that emerges across all reviews is of a series that consistently earns the enthusiasm it generates.
Who Should Listen?
Children aged roughly six to eleven will get the most from this, though the younger end will benefit from an engaged adult alongside for context and for shared laughing. Ideal for car journeys, particularly with multiple children of different ages — the humour is broad enough to work across a spread of young listeners simultaneously. Parents who want to share a listening experience rather than simply put something on will enjoy it as much as their children. If your household already has the graphic novels, the audiobook offers a genuinely different and equally worthwhile texture. Perfect for fans of Tom Gates, Wimpy Kid, and anything involving organised mayhem pursued with great creative energy in a woodland setting.
Listen to Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business! on Audible UK — narrated by Ciaran Saward, running 2 hours and 1 minute.
