<Tr> <Th> Gender </Th> <Td> Male </Td> </Tr> <P> Curious George is the protagonist of a series of popular children's books by the same name, written by H.A. Rey and Margret Rey . The books feature a brown monkey named George, who is brought from his home in Africa by "The Man with The Yellow Hat" to live with him in a giant city . </P> <P> When the first story, Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys was published in France in 1939, George was named Fifi . In the United Kingdom, George was originally called "Zozo" in 1941, apparently to avoid using the name of the then King George VI for a monkey . Books featuring the adventures of Curious George have been translated from the original French into many other languages in addition to English . The books have been adapted into several television series and films . </P> <P> The series was written and drawn by the team of Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey . The couple fled Paris in June 1940, on self made bicycles, carrying the Curious George manuscript with them . At first, only H.A. Rey was credited for the work in order to distinguish the Reys' books from the large number of children's books written by female authors . Later, Hans Rey was credited for the illustrations and Margret Rey for the writing . The Reys produced many other children's books, but the Curious George series was the most popular . Each book has been in continuous print since it was first published . The current United States publisher is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt of Boston Mass . </P>

When was the first curious george book published