Book excerpt: Jasmine can't wait.Her brother Jay is coming home soon from college and it has been SO long since she's seen him. He plays with Jasmine, gives her rides on his shoulders, and is without a doubt the best big brother ever. The problem is the day he is coming seems like it is going to take forever to get here!FINALLY!Jay is coming today, and when they pick him up at the airport, he is so happy to see Jasmine that he gives her a BIG hug! And he tells her that he brought her a present. But Jay says they can't open the presents until they get home—and then Mom says they have to eat lunch first!Finally, lunch is over and Jasmine gets to open her present: a ceramic figure of three monkeys. The three monkeys are very significant, Jay says. Most people know them as “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” but they mean more than that: they have been around for more than a thousand years and they remind us how to live life. Pretty neat, right?Jasmine carries them everywhere she goes—including to get the mail, which turns out to be a BIG mistake because it is too much to carry and Jasmine drops the monkeys, breaking them into pieces. What she doesn't know is that the monkeys have a deeper meaning—and a hidden secret that is more beautiful than she could have ever imagined.A storybook for children of the world that explores loving relationships, kindness, and curiosity with wonderfully bright images and a playful, inspiring message, Madhavi Reddy MD's first children's book is one for the whole family to enjoy together. The perfect lesson for young children to learn the value of family and the nature of life, Monkeys teaches them that while seemingly bad things happen in life, there may be something precious hidden within those moments.