The Ape(ic) Ramayana

It is rather amazing that there are monkeys/apes (e.g. Hanuman, Sugriv, Vali, etc) in the ancient Indian epic 'The Ramayana', who think, speak, and act like human beings. Why is there such unrealism at all? It, in fact, suggests that Ramayana is likely to be a fiction or a fairy tail written to please, if not exclusively, kids and children, rather than a story based on facts.