My 14-month-old daughter, Johanna, loves books.  Little in life fascinates her more than flipping through the pages of a book about farm animals, or rubbing fur or sandpaper implanted in appropriate places on the pages of classics like “Pat the Bunny. ” (“Now you touch daddy’s scratchy face!”) 

While I also love books, my tastes run a little less, um, tactile than Johanna’s, and I also tend to read most books only once.  So, with nightly story time a bit like the movie “Groundhog Day,” only with different PJs, I often have to feign excitement with each well-worn plot development (“Look at that, the cow’s jumping over the moon! How does she do that?!”)

Enter Curious George. 

Johanna had recently received three little volumes of Curious George board books purchased at a garage sale by her grandmother. Like many, I remember Curious George from my youth, and was delighted to reconnect with the lovable monkey at story time a couple nights ago.  The illustrations seemed more than a bit dated, but as we made our way through the last one, titled “Are You Curious?” I found my interest in George outpacing even my daughter’s.  With apologies to H.A. Rey, here’s the complete text:

This is George.  George is a good little monkey and always very curious.

Do you ever feel like George?

Do you ever feel happy?

Are you sometimes loud?

Have you ever felt scared … or hurt … or proud?

Do you ever feel sick … or dizzy?

Are you sometimes sad … or silly?

Have you ever been naughty?  So that you need a time out?

Are you mischievous?

Are you curious?

(George is.)

My reaction to the story was immediate:  I gotta hire this guy!  He’s a perfect fit for what we’re trying to do at Fast Horse. Seems George has the life experience and empathy to be a good supervisor and counselor.  He’s boisterous and has a bit of edge to his personality, helping him take calculated risks and push the limits. His insatiable curiosity would allow him to bring a lot to the creative process, and he doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously.

Finding, hiring and retaining good people is the single most important thing I do here at Fast Horse.  Curious people who are risk-takers and whose personalities add to our culture are tough to find.  And we’re always looking. So, Are You Curious?  Are you looking?  We need to talk.