Dear Zoo: Lift the Flaps

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I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet..." (That's a direct quote from the book) and then I'd pull out a different puppet from the box and bring it to life for a few seconds. It was fun to have the parents and talking kids chant the line over and over with me. And it was even more fun to see the children's excitement when a "live" animal came out of the box. Priceless. It has very good illustrations which complement the story nicely, adding to the sense of humor within. The front cover isn’t particularly bright but the wavy lines, bold simple title and family picture still make it look intriguing and hint at the slightly unusual story within. If I Ran the Zoo (Classic Seuss) by Dr. Seuss is a classic zoo book! What kid wouldn’t want to imagine all the wonderful things they would do if they were asked to be in charge of the zoo for a day 🙂

I have read many children books with a zoo theme. A visit to the zoo is almost always a fun experience, the animals are awesome, the family has a great time discussing and admiring the beauties of the God's creations. But this book is different from the rest. The visit to the zoo was lousy, and it sounds more like one of those ordinary, nothing-great visits to the zoo experienced probably by too many families from time to time. If I Ran the Zoo (Classic Seuss) was written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss. This classic story follows a young boy named Gerald McGrew as he shares all of the things that he would do differently if he ran the zoo. The funny rhyming story is accompanied by fairly simple illustrations that use color sparingly. In some ways, 11-year-old Whit is like an animal at the zoo where his parents work. He is homeschooled here at the zoo and doesn’t leave the premises much. When he meets “Bird Girl” who comes each day to draw the birds, he finally has the chance to talk to someone his age.I would also highly recommend this wonderful family movie (which originated from a book that’s more of a teen or adult read) — We Bought A Zoo is an amazing story (based on Benjamin Mee’s real life) of how a family came to buy a zoo. This is one of those movies that has something for everyone in the family and it helps that the kids in the movie include a young daughter and a teenage son who both add a lot of fun to daily life. When I "read" it, I had a box marked "From the Zoo" (as if the kids could read it) and I would just say the same line over and over again: The book ends with the main character ‘Me’ saying, ��That night I had a strange dream. Do you think animals have dreams?’ This is a great question to start a discussion with the class and also it could be used in Literacy with the words being omitted from the story and the Children using the illustrations as inspiration for their own text for the story. It would be good for guided reading from around years 3+ as it is interesting and has a good mix of words. What kind of pet would you like from the zoo? An elephant, a lion, a snake – or something a bit smaller, and cuddlier and playful? Lift the flaps and see what has been sent – it’s bound to be a surprise!

Dear Zoo has a good mixture of words and pictures, with uncomplicated, simple sentences, which are perfect for teaching our little ones to read. The language is easily understandable for a child, with descriptive words that may form part of their vocabulary already. The story involves a young child writing to the zoo because they want a pet, which adds a bit of magic to the book, and will capture their imaginations long after the book is put down. Why we like Dear Zoo Something I do admire is it's comment on consumerism. It's décor resembling a bar-code and it being a commercial item. I think that that is one thing that it truly embodies and imbibes throughout. Read Do You Know Hank the Hippo, and let your preschoolers act out the story with an adorable crocheted hippo toy. The Capital Mysteries are a great series all around for kids starting early chapter books. In the Capital Mysteries #9: A Thief at the National Zoo, the kids have to solve the mystery when the Tiger’s Eye jewel is stolen during a zoo event! Readers will get to see what happens from early morning until the zoo closes and the animals go to sleep. It’s a fun way to learn about some of the behind-the-scenes activities that take place at a zoo. Recommended for ages 3 – 8 years.I hope you enjoy reading Dear Zoo as much as we did, and if you have any suggestions for future books, please let me know in the comments below. Let’s share the love of reading and help our children to become bookworms for life. Zoo by Anthony Browne is a story about a family’s trip to the zoo with an underlying theme that becomes evident throughout the story as it progresses. The book is based on the story of Roy and Silo, two male Chinstrap Penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo. Roy and Silo were observed performing behaviors typically seen in penguin couples, such as bowing to one another. We can’t wait to head out to spend some time with our local polar bears, giraffes and monkeys this year.

I grew up with this vintage picture book but it seems to be virtually unknown these days. Margaret Bloy Graham is probably better known for her beloved Harry the Dirty Dog series. Billy’s pet spider Martha is left at the zoo and suddenly all the animals are happy because she’s taken care of their insect problem. She uses carefully rendered pencil drawings with what I think is monotype prints. The results are visually arresting. [Caldecott picture book, ages 2 and up] My Visit to the Zoo was written and illustrated by Aliki. This book follows two young kids as they visit the zoo and learn about all kinds of animals. The descriptive text shares lots of fun information about the animals, and additional facts are hidden throughout the book as well. The illustrations are lush and realistic, showing lots of details about the beautiful animals.

The book mostly seems to be a commentary of a normal family going to the zoo and shows no overtly obvious life lessons or guidance other than the comparisons of the characters in the story to the animals in the zoo. This is recognized by the protagonist when he dreams of swapping places with the animals in the zoo and he ponders about the reams of animals. This could instigate curiosity and is a good way to see things from another point of view. A talented animal can do wondrous things with colors and circles and it thinks the zoo is the perfect place to live but the two children it befriends convince it that there is an even better place to aspire towards. [picture book, ages 2 and up] With a final image of birds flying free above the cages, this is a good book for discussion on human behaviour and for raising questions such as: Do animals feel? How should we be treating them and should they be caged? Who is more civilised, the humans or the animals?

The colours along the journey are fairly bright, however, there is a consistent juxtaposition between the colours on the verso -which is where the humans are repeatedly situated- and the animals in captivity on the recto. The clothes that the humans are wearing contribute to the bright colours on the verso. Some of the clothes could be perceived as a representation of the way that humans mistreat animals for our benefit. For example, some characters are wearing leopard print coats and tiger printed trousers, suggesting that zoos are not the only way in which we unnecessarily maltreat animals. A trip to the zoo is such a joyous occasion, isn’t it? Our urban zoo in Boston is a little sad, so we typically go to the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island, about an hour away. Zoo Zen: A Yoga Story for Kids was written by Kristen Fischer and illustrated by Susi Schaefer. This sweet yoga story follows a little girl named Lyla as she learns new yoga poses from her zoo animal friends. The illustrations are striking, and offer helpful tips for kids to try the poses. But this book has a delightful extra feature. It is a “noisy” book! And I can assure you (because I’ve done this myself) that if you accidentally sit on it, you will find that it might trumpet at you, or chatter like a monkey, or even (and this is a bit scary if you’re not expecting it!) even hiss like a snake!Zoo” by Anthony Browne by is really a sad picture book about going to the zoo with your family. A boy is telling the story through his perspective by reading the text but I think if you were to look at the pictures, you can see many different perspectives taken place in the book. It starts of with a each member of the family has their own portrait; similar to “Willy’s Pictures”. By looking at their facial expressions you can feel through personality coming through the pictures. The first one I noticed was the dad with a stern look on his face. Then the boy, who is the narrator, is in a calm manner while his brother is smiling a fake smile and his mother looking really sad. It’s a story about how a family goes to the zoo and when the boy who goes to sleep at night remembers a dream that he was behind bars, trapped, maybe living a life he didn’t want to. He pondered if animals could have dreams like him. The character made a connection to the animals because he feels the same way as the animals. We are big fans of Little Critter books — the kids find them very funny. Kids will love My Trip to the Zoosince it’s all about animal noises 🙂 This picture book often makes the Banned and Challenged book list each year. It’s based on a true zoo story: Animal Strike at the Zoo. It’s True! was written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Margaret Spengler. In this silly story, the animals at the zoo decide to go on strike. They come up with all kinds of entertaining demands for the zookeeper. Kids will love laughing at the hilarious and imaginative illustrations of the animals. My son loved, loved, loved this series. I didn’t realize that it was a three-book set, but I finally found the last one in a used book sale at our elementary school.