Product Description

This camp is WILD!

Nancy, George, and Bess are attending a three-day overnight camp at the local zoo. They'll get to spend lots of time with all of the animals and learn about them too. The best part is, they will be helping the zookeeper make toys for the animals -- just like real staffers!

But when the toys the girls make by day are disappearing at night, it looks like everyone is a suspect! Can Nancy tame this wild case, or will the zoo animals be without anything fun to do? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew books are still some of the best for the young reader.This was a gift for my 6-year-old granddaughter. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (7)

Fun book my son loved
My son got this book for Christmas was he was only about 8 months old and he loved it.
For the next 6 months he wanted to read (look and touch) it all the time.
It lasted for a long time, but eventually he tore it apart. Quality is good, but boys can be rough!
I may buy another copy.

Cute book
I like this book, it's a cute idea. It's short and sweet and teaches the kids texture...

Curious George at the Zoo
I bought this book to give to a little boy for his fourth birthday. I was disappointed when it arrived. It only has ten pages and is evidently intended for younger children than for a 4 year-old. It would have been helpful to have known that in advance.

Ellen

Great Book!
We have had this book for several months now and it is one of my daughter's favorites.For age reference she just turned one.The book has brightly colored pages with a variety of textures for the kids to feel.The front cover with the panda opens up to a penguin and we used that fuzzy patch to help her learn how to pet our pets without grabbing handfuls of hair and pulling.

Great Book!!
My grandson was 14 months when I gave him this book while on vacation.The touch and feel feature was great for him.He "oohed and ahhhed" when he rubbed his fingers over the animals.It's a very sturdy book and although he probably didn't grasp all that I was reading to him, he thoroughly enjoyed the book and had me read it over and over to him.I would recommend it to anyone with small children. ... Read more

Product Description
Welcome to the Zoo School-where students have zookeepers for teachers and animals for textbooks! Ursula, Kitty, Robin, Leo, and Drake have just entered this very strange school, and right away they know something fishy is going on. The desks have animals in them, the cupboards are filled with animal food, and the classroom smells like, well . . . a zoo. Ew! Plus the teachers are batty, the lessons are loony, and the principal is missing. This school is ridiculous! But when the New School Inspectors threaten to close it down, the students have to decide for themselves whether this zooey school is worth saving. And, if so, they'll have to figure out a way to do it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Delightful Easy Chapter Book
This is a delightful kids book about a school at a zoo.My five year old was excited each night to hear what zany lesson the kids were going to have (gym class with seals, sorting and counting with real monkeys).It's the type of school every kid wishes they went to.

The book has about twelve chapters that aren't too long and it has a story which is entertaining to kids as well as adults so it's a fantastic book to read aloud to your child or your class.If your child is an independent reader (the book seems to be around the third grade reading level) they will enjoy this book.It is one of my daughters favorites.

Batty teachers, loony lessons, and a vanished principal
Kitty and friends have just entered a strange Zoo School where something fishy is going on: batty teachers, loony lessons, and a vanished principal. Is the silly school worth saving when inspectors decide to make ridiculous rules for it? The group must decide kids in grades 2-5 will find Zoo School a very different read. ... Read more

Product Description
A history of Chicago's world-famous zoo, from its conception in 1919. ... Read more

Product Description
What's stinkier than dog breath? Hawaii's Calvin Coconut is on a mission to find out!

Hawaii boy Calvin Coconut is a fourth-grade whiz kid: he has convinced his mom to let him adopt a dog. But Mom says Streak smells bad. Especially her breath. To Calvin, Streak’s stink is a good one, but he’s worried. If he doesn’t come up with a way to deal with Streak’s zoo breath soon, Mom might make him give his dog back to the shelter. So when his teacher assigns the class a discovery project, Calvin teams up with his pal Julio to find a way to fix Streak’s bad breath.
Zoo Breath is full of fun . . . and great stinks. Calvin Coconut’s discoveries will delight readers who have grown to love him, as well as those new to this series by Graham Salisbury, with charming illustrations by Jacqueline Rogers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

ZOO BREATH: A Book for Dog People of All Ages
While I am definitely enjoying reading about Calvin Coconut's adventures in Graham Salisbury's new series of books for younger readers, ZOO BREATH goes beyond simple "small kid time" antics and subtly explores deeper issues such as ways kids relate with absent parents and the parent figures in their day-to-day lives. On one level, ZOO BREATH is a delightful and edifying adventure of a fourth grader living with his single mother; his younger sister, Darci; the teenage daughter of one of Calvin's mother's high school friends and now the live-in babysitter, Stella; and Streak, Calvin's recently acquired dog. Calvin's life includes typical fourth grade challenges such as school projects, responsibilities at home, the irritations of having a sixteen-year-old female in the house ("who could make my dog go away by complaining to Mom"), teasing about girls by his peers, and a mom who he fears will make him get rid of his dog if he can't keep Streak from causing problems at home. These issues will certainly capture Salisbury's younger readers.

This book's conflict revolves a round the challenge of a school science project, and clever Calvin manages to combine his concerns about Streak with his school obligations in a project focusing on kinds of stinky smells. Young readers will delight in the situations Calvin and his assigned project partner, Julio, get into doing their research: attempting to bottle offensive stinks, making a chart to show their ranking of common stinks (toilet hole and dead toad were among the worst, while cat breath and pig breath were less offensive than dog breath), and even trying to use mouthwash and toothpaste to clean up Streak's breath.

ZOO BREATH also subtly explores Calvin's feelings about his biological father and Ledward, his mom's boyfriend, as well as Calvin's developing awareness of girls. These issues, too, are important to many of Salisbury's young readers. In perhaps the most poignant scene in the book, Calvin looks forward to having a good phone conversation with his dad Little Johnny Coconut, now living in Las Vegas, but Dad seems to be in too much of a hurry for Calvin. Shortly after that disappointment, Ledward senses Calvin's letdown and offers: "You ever need to talk about anything, you come see me, okay?" Combined with Ledward's fatherly involvement early in the novel when he includes Calvin and Julio in the installation of the new toilet and "wrapping it up" as a surprise for Mom, Salisbury shows readers that Ledward and Calvin's relationship is a more healthy father and son one than the one between Calvin and his biological father.

As Calvin's teacher Mr. Purdy says at one point in the novel, "Some people are dog people, and some aren't."I would add that ZOO BREATH is a book for dog people of all ages. ... Read more

Product Description
What is it about zoo residents?  Is it because they're cooped up all day with nothing better to do? Is it because they lack the appropriate clothing for their unusual size and shape? Is there no laundry service? Whatever the reason, whenever you go to the zoo, what can you be sure to see? Heinies, and plenty of 'em. From demure to bodacious, Ayun Halliday and Dan Santat are finally willing to show us the true appeal of the zoo--There are always heinies, and lots of 'em.  ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A Perfect Gift
I am an aunt.I do not need to buy useful gifts.This will be a huge hit with two of my favorite little girls.They will be able to use many, many different words for the hind ends of all their favorite animals!The artwork is great.The story is done well, is funny, and has excellent vocabulary.A must buy!!

Hysterical & Clever
I loved this book so much it made me want to go back to teaching! Amazing illustrations and cleverly crafted text. This would be a great book just for fun, or for illustrating the magic of a thesaurus! Couldn't recommend it highly enough, for classrooms and families!

A sense of humor is essential to enjoying this book!
The title of this book captured my attention, and intrigued me as well - was this a book solely devoted to bottoms? Well, it's that and much more - the book looks at the bottoms of various animals at the zoo, and portrays all of these animals with their bottoms, but the depictions are tastefully done. Each animal's bottom is referred to using various words, "haunches of the caribou", "mandrill's fanny", "buns of a baby bunny", "jellyfish's tushy", etc. Various shades of color are also referred to such as ecru, cobalt blue, azalea, etc.

The illustrations are gorgeously detailed, in full rich color. My preschooler enjoyed this book and loved the illustrations, learning various ways to call a bottom in the process, though I did skim over words like "booty" which I found inappropriate for her at her age. I feel this is a humorous and creative book, but of course, it is up to parents and teachers how and if, they wish to use it. Only recommended to those with a great big sense of humor.

Lame and Inappropriate
I'm not a fan of the author.I tried reading one of her travel books once and found it unfunny, unamusing, and unenlightening despite her best efforts to appear to be all three of these.To put it charitably, Halliday is a "free spirit" and this translates to the children's book market as "let's make lots of rhymes that are inappropriate for children."I can see the appeal, what child wouldn't think that it's hilarious to discuss an animal's "can", "junk", or "bootie", but as an adult one of your duties is to select age-appropriate stories.I for one do not want my child repeating many of the synonyms for bottom in this book and I don't really feel that they would even get many of the jokes (there's a rhyme that describes a color as ecru).I'm no prude--I love "everybody poops" and "Walter the Farting Dog", but "Always Lots of Heinies at the Zoo" is the literary equivalent of a Klumps movie.If you are one of the people out there who takes your kids to movies where inappropriate language and fart jokes are the primary modes of humor, you'd probably love this book.Personally, I'm willing to stick with one of the thousands of books that treat children like children and not like tiny college fratboys.

Hoorah for Heinies!
I have been a fan of Ayun Halliday's for years, ever since I first saw her on stage in Chicago with the Neo-Futurists theater group. I am a loyal East Village Inky subscriber (check out her awesome zine!) and own almost all her wonderful books for adults. She continues to evolve in her endeavors, the latest being this delightful and hilarious book for children (and adults like me). The language is lyrical, rhythmic, and funny, the story entertaining and informative (without being didactic) and the pictures are colorful and inventive. PLUS, well, there are lots and lots of heinies on every page! What kid doesn't want to know more about that oh-so-amusing part of the body? This book made me crack up (excuse the pun) and was a pure joy to read. Run out and buy it right now! Fun summer reading for the little guys! ... Read more

Product Description
Ever since 1997, 'Alien Zoo', Dr Karl Shuker's cryptozoology news column has been a regular feature in Fortean Times - the world's premier magazine devoted to unexplained phenomena of every kind, and inspired by the writings and researches of scientific iconoclast Charles Fort. Dr Shuker has also penned many longer, more detailed 'Lost Ark' articles for Fortean Times, surveying an immense diversity of controversial and newly-revealed creatures worldwide. Today, not only are both of these long-running FT series hailed as cryptozoological classics but now, for the very first time, an extensive compilation of each of them has been meticulously prepared by Dr Shuker, incorporating numerous remarkable illustrations (including many rare or previously-unpublished examples), and presented here in book form. ... Read more

Product Description
Corduroy and his friends are taking a trip to the zoo-and you'reinvited to join them. As Don Freeman's lovable bear leads the way,discover clever surprises hidden by flaps on every page. Find themischievous monkeys playing hide-and-seek in the Jungle Walk, or spotthe wombats in the Australia exhibit. Visit lions, giraffes, parrots,and crocodiles too. Also, learn fun facts about different species,just like you do at a real zoo. With three to four flaps per page,this book promises a fun-filled, interactive read every time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Corduroy's a winner!
Another good book with great flaps to flip featuring Corduroy!I love reading books from this series to my toddler / preschooler before & after we go to the zoo (or the fire station, the beach, the library, etc.).Reading them helps us to make the most of the fun field trip while we're there.

Corduroy
I purchased this for a visit from my three and a half year old niece.As a former [...]teacher, I knew Corduroy was a favorite of the younger children.This book was a bit busy, but for a three and a half year old, it was good.Lifting the flaps provided the interaction she needed
and kept her attention for a short time.It is a good way to introduce children to the Corduroy series. My niece wanted to know why my
books "didn't talk" and I assured her it was more fun for her to do the "talking!"I would recommend this for a child up to five years old.

Very entertaining book
This book is so vibrant and colorful, its hard to imagine any toddler not loving it.There's not much to the story, no rhymes, no moral - just lots of beautifully drawn images of things kids love.The one drawback is very soft pages and soft flaps that can tear easilty in rough hands. ... Read more

Product Description
Since monkeys and elephants and crocodiles don't make good tour guides who better to walk us through the inner workings of a zoo than the zookeeper? Roland Smith, award winning writer and 20-year zookeeper, introduces young readers to little known facts-sometimes in the middle of the night zookeepers do go back to check the locks, giraffes don't know how to duck making it difficult to drive under a bridge when zookeepers transport them from one location to another, and exactly how much time do zookeepers spend with the pooper-scooper? Z is for Zookeeper gives children a front row seat at the zoo-one of the ultimate childhood places. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Very informative and accurate
Some of the rhymes may be clumsy, but speaking as an animal (zoo) keeper, this book is a real look for kids at what animal keepers really do.The illustrations are beautiful, and the information is incredibly accurate for the small ones. That's a big pet peeve for me... when books seem to consider kids too young to worry about the accuracy of scientific or animal related information.

That being said, it's also geared perfectly to kids' interests without losing a spark for adults. The animal keepers I know gathered around this book with delight when it was given at a baby shower. And believe me, we are TOUGH critics on animal books.

A disappointing offering
I had high expectations for this disappointing book. Some of the rhymes are clumsy: ""Don't lose your keys," all zookeepers say. Changing locks is expensive. Key starts with the letter K." Others are just foolish: ""X are those things animals leave everywhere. Zookeepers pick them up with the greatest of care." While the expository text for more advanced readers is interesting, the text for the younger students leaves a lot be be desired.
... Read more

Product Description
Come and visit the zoo and see how the animals poo in the funniest places! 'How do you doo-doo at the zoo? 'Kangaroos doo-doo while on the hop ...Elephants doo-doo bigger than you. Plop! Rhinos doo-doo as they charge on by ...Toucans doo-doo as they fly in the sky ...But Charlie isn't like any of these animals - he poos in the loo! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

My Son Likes It
It's a cute book about poo. My 2 year old enjoys it as he can pronounce the title. The illustrations are okay, not really my style. The story isn't as funny as a previous reviewer mentioned. I found the rhymes, or maybe the flow of the book to be a little weak.

Potty Training in Process
We got this for our 2 1/2 yr old daughter since we are in the process of potty training. She loves to look at the book while she is pottying and refers to the character as 'Cailou' off PBS kids. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because each time it refers to going #2, it says Doo-Doo (we substitute Poo Poo, although that may not be any better). Overall, it is a great book!

My Daughter Loves This Book!
This book is a definite hit with my 20-month-old daughter (and me too). She loves this book and asks me to read it to her all the time. It's too soon to tell whether it will help with potty training but I am glad that I purchased it. It's a great book and I laughed so hard the first time we read it together!

A Potty Book that's different from the rest!
"Zoo Poo" is a decent book for helping toddlers recognize the 'natural thing' of going number 2. I don't really think it has to be tagged as 'The First Toilet Training Book' as it states in the title. We had many other first books.This book came to us after a turbulent year and home life and many potty training attempts. If your son or daughter is having a hard time making a deposit in the toilet or potty chair (afraid, control freak, whatever), this book will help.It made it interesting for my 3rd-time-in-training, controlling daughter to see the animals 'going potty' in nature and then going about their business. At the end of the book, the moral of the story is that kids go potty on the toilet.We made it a fun to read book by laughing and saying together, "Ewww!" each time we turned a page. For those of you who might think they would find this a disgusting book, believe me, it's fine. My parents never let us say any of the words that started with the letter p. But we have to think like a toddler to help them and this books helps!I also recommend "It Hurts When I Poop". It explains what happens in your body and that poop is your body's trash and the toilet is the trash can. My little future doctor loved the simple drawings of inside the body. She's now trained and we're both happy!!! Good luck!

Humorous and catchy
My 22 month old son loves this book.He thinks it's hilarious.I think it's hilarious to see other people's reactions when we read it!If you feel as I do, that it's best to talk to your children about their bodies and bodily functions as well as those of other animals, this is the book for you.It is, however, not the wordiest of books, which is unfortunate.A good "THIS is the last book" (when you've already read 10) bedtime book. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
As the first baby gorilla every born at the Roxbury Zoo Barny has always been special, but new arrivals make him question whether he will always be treated that way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

who's new at the zoo
My daughter loves these books by Janette Okes. She borrowed them from a friend and asked me to buy them so she could read them over and over. The books are written from the point of view of the cute little animal on the cover. She is 7 and can't get enough. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Zoo Design:The Reality of Wild Illusions
This text is the definitive book used in design, construction, management, and overall understanding of what is necessary for creation of zoological habitats and maintaining the physical and psychological health of animals.I am a high school teacher that has used this book to help students design zoological habitat models using the varying aspects of this book as the principle behind teaching students about animal conservation, education, research, and entertainment.It is one of the only books written that was designed as a text to cover the importance of creation of habitats that are not only people friendly, zoo staff friendly, but most importantly animal friendly.This is a textbook for coursework designed at the college level, but it can very easily be adapted to help the secondary teacher as well.Excellent resource.When initially looking for a resource this book was recommended from 15 zoos throughout the nation. ... Read more

Product Description
Featuring lively stories and engaging subjects tailored to the interests of young children, this new level in the best-DK Readers series targets kids just learning to read or needing extra practice, and helps build vocabulary and confidence. ... Read more

Product Description
This delightful adaptation of Twas the Night Before Christmas, shares zoo keeper and animal preparations for the upcoming Zoo Day. But things aren t going according to plan . . . The llamas won t quit spitting, the giraffes are drooling, and the zebras aren t happy at all with their stripes. Meanwhile, the zoo keepers are scurrying this way and that, cleaning up poop, ringing mealtime bells, and trying to get the animals bathed. Will Zoo Day go off without a hitch? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great kids book.
I have always found it difficult to encourage little boys to read as it can be difficult to find subject matter they find interesting.This book hit the spot.

It is very cleverly written as a spin on "Twas the night before Christmas," with lots of humor and wonderful creatures to admire.What child doesn't delight in the discussion of spitting, burping, and being naughty.

A sure winner.

Behind The Scenes At The Zoo
What happens to animals in the zoo when there are no people there to observe them? This engrossing book by author Catherine Ipcizade takes us behind the scenes at the zoo the day before people arrive. The text is in humorous and informative verse depicting varying animals' behavior and habits. You meet monkeys, rhinos, llamas, lions, alligators, and elephants, to name a few.

Ben Hodson's illustrations are a delight as he adds extra touches and more fun. Watch each zookeeper's shoulders for their pets and the pets' antics! The creative pages at the end of the book add even more information, questions to answer, and a matching activity. Wouldn't it be fun for a classroom to playact the different jobs people can have at a zoo? Likewise, children at home will enjoy mimicking the animals or just curling up reading the book either by themselves or with mom and dad. A must have for a home or classroom library for ages 3 - 7.

A fun look at zoo animals
Reviewed by Cayden (age 4) and Max (age 2) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (5/08)

"'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day" is a play on the popular classic "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."In this book we explore how the zookeepers ready the animals in the zoo for Zoo Day.Many of the animals aren't exactly cooperative though as we see the llamas spitting and the elephants rolling in mud and spraying water.

Cayden:"Look at all of the animals on the cover!Can we name them?"
Max:"Animals!"

Cayden:"My favorite animals are the monkeys!"

Max:"Mouse!"
Cayden:"There is a mouse on his shoulder!Why is that mouse up there?"

Cayden:"I thought monkeys hang by their tails and not their feet!"

Cayden:"Rhinos eat grass.See?"
Max:"Grass!"

Cayden:"Why do those things eat bugs?Look that bug is running away so they can't eat it!"

Cayden:"What is a doo-doo?"

Max:"Spray!Spray!"
Cayden:"The elephant sucks the water in his trunk and sprays everyone!"

Cayden:"Why aren't the zebras happy?"

Max:"Bus!"
Cayden:"The bus is bringing the kids to the zoo!"

Cayden:"My favorite part was the game at the end where we matched the animals!"

Parent's comments:

"'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day" is an excellent book that teaches children a lot about the different quirks of the animals in a zoo as well as the job functions of a zookeeper.My children loved looking at the pictures of the animals and even learned some new ones, like the meerkat.Just like "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," this book is written in the format of rhyme.

At the end of the book there is an educational section entitled "For Creative Minds" that contains learning activities based on the material presented throughout the book.My children had a lot of fun with the "Adaptation Matching Activity" and learning about the tasks that the zookeeper performs."'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day" is a super learning adventure for children and we highly recommend it!

ADORABLE!
This book sparkles!

A twist on the Night Before Christmas, if offers us a zany view of llamas and zebras and giraffes--oh my!--as animal keepers prepare for zoo day.

The verse is playful and engaging; the illustrations outstanding. It's a keeper--one of those books kids will want to read over and over again.

A super kids' book
Catherine Ipcizade's 'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day is a clever adaptation of the classic, `Twas the Night Before Christmas, complete with rhyme. Hang on for a ride, parents. This book is a `giggler,' and you'll have to fight to keep from laughing out loud while you're reading it-and you'll be interrupted by the children's laughter while you're reading it to them. But that's a good thing.

Every person and every animal is getting ready for Zoo Day, but there isn't much that's going the way it should. The animals are not cooperating. Whew! Perhaps when Zoo Day arrives the llamas won't spit, the giraffes won't drool or burp, the elephants won't roll in the dirt and soak everyone with trunks filled with water, and the zebras will finally be satisfied with their stripes. But even then, there are so many more animals in the zoo and other things might happen. Will Zoo Day be successful? You'll just have to read the book to see! I'd watch those pesky monkeys though.

`Twas the Day Before Zoo Day is destined to be a child's favorite with the comical telling of the story and the fun illustrations. The added attraction is the activities and animal fun facts at the back of the book

Armchair Interviews says: Boys and girls will love `Twas the Day Before Zoo Day. ... Read more

Product Description
In Origami Zoo, two of the world's finest paper folders present an exciting collection of original origami animals. Their creatures, ranging from the exotic to the familiar, the elegant to the whimsical, will both inspire the beginner and challenge the most accomplished folder.

Choose among the dolphin, penguin, swan, owl, goose, kangaroo, praying mantis, or even the mythical Pegasus or extinct wooly mammoth. Each of these thirty-seven new projects is true origami-folded from a single piece of paper with no cutting or gluing-and is complete with clear step-by-step diagrams, instructions, and a photograph of the finished model.

Origami Zoo will challenge and delight anyone with a penchant for creating something wonderful out of (almost) nothing.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

For EXPERTS only!
My daughter and I are fairly experienced origamists, and we were not able to complete a single one of these animals.

Lobser / Crap look cool!
Of all my origami books this is one of my least favorite.It does have some real Nice designs however half of the book the diagrams are not colored to assist with correct folds.All though it could have had better diagrams created all the projects in the book are fun to do.

Difficulty: Medium

This book i would recommend to be a second or third book to an collection due to the poorly done diagrams.The skill level for this is beginner to average level folds.

What A Zoo!
Origami Zoo compiled many animal models that we all know and the folds are not difficult and each model averages around 50 steps: Be forewarned that 2 of the models are folded from rectangles, and one model, the spider, is folded from a triangle which will upset some origami purists who like squares. But all in all Origami Zoo is another nice book.

paper craft
This is harder than it looks.Patience is a requirement.My swan was all right, but I decided not to do any more.It just wasn't for me.Others may find it fun.

Nice Origami book.
Lang's book on Origami is a good buy for anyone interested in this ancient art of paper folding. It covers models that are simple to fold all the way to models that require more skill. It also includes quite a large variety of animals to explore. ... Read more

Product Description

Mischievous monkeys, colorful parrots, a friendly elephant -- young children's favorite zoo animals are all here in superb close-up photos. Why does a camel have a hump? Where do penguins come from? Simple text and detailed illustrations will satisfy inquisitive preschoolers who are busy learning about the world around them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Zoo Book
Nice pictures, but the text is a little funky.Would also like to see more animals included.

Introducing Children to the World of Zoo Animals
DK Publishing has joined forces with Baby Genius to create entertaining books for babies. These books combine Baby Genius' philosophy with DK's amazing photographs and designs. Baby Genius is a leading producer/publisher of classical, instrumental and vocal CDs and videos for young children.

In this book, children are introduced to the world of wild and exotic animals. Fun words and full-color photographs will delight babies and hold their interest.

Zoo Animals is a sturdy 16-page book that can be enjoyed for years. The photography is so good you can almost imagine reaching out and touching the page and actually feeling the leopard's fur or the petting the tiny tiger cub's fur. The photography is simply stunning.

This book contains pictures of leopards catnapping, giraffes sticking their tongue out (really funny), baby elephants drinking at a water hole, Zebras smiling, turtles swimming under water, baby tigers hanging out together all in a row and a group of lemurs with stunning amber eyes.

On the left side you find one animal with the name in large print. Then, on the adjacent page, you see three photographs of the animals in their natural habitat.

Highly recommended for the amusement value alone. Some of my earliest childhood memories included seeing a giraffe and elephant at a zoo. This is a book babies and toddlers will enjoy and a trip to the zoo will enhance the reading experience.

Also look for:

Baby Animals: Colors, Numbers, Shapes

Four Seasons

~The Rebecca Review ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

Perfect for encouraging an early love of poetry
The poems in this beautifully illustrated book are perfect for children; short and silly yet well written.My 3-year old and I sit together and read the entire book, and we each have our favorite animal poem.A wonderful book- I will buy more of Florian's collections.

A review of a sort.
No one can accuse poet Douglas Florian of being uninterested in the public opinion of his work.Mr. Florian is one of the few relatively well-known children's writers out there who, by his own hand and without any interference on my part, was kind enough to ask me to review his book, "zoo's who" by e-mail.I, a lowly Amazon.com reviewer, was somewhat amazed to receive his request (all the more so when I noticed that it was written in brightly colored verse).I was reluctant initially, a reluctance that increased tenfold when I opened my most recent issue of School Library Journal and found that Mr. Florian had written a letter taking an SLJ reviewer to task for a) Incorrectly writing the title of his book with capital letters and b) not properly spacing the letters in his poem, "The Slugs", thereby nixing the point of the work.The fact that the review was a positive one did not stop Mr. Florian from his critique.Now I tend to write reviews of children's books with only the vaguest sense that the author may, at some time, care what I've written.I have never received an angry e-mail from someone like Carmen Agry Deedy for my review of her gawdawful, "The Yellow Star" or from Marcus Pfister for his lamentable, "Rainbow Fish".But then, I've never known for a fact that the author has or would, at some point, read what I've written.So do I shrink from my responsibilities and refuse to review this book simply because I can't write three words without wondering if they are "nice"?Do I shy away from this momentous occasion and leave the reviewing to somebody else?No sir!Onward I revieweth!

It helps that I liked the book too.Before you begin to sneer at me and say to yourself, "Well of COURSE she's not going to give the book a bad review (the coward)", I would like to note that Florian's books are of a very specific breed.They are not going to appeal to every child of every persuasion.The nine-year-old who fills their shelves with Shel Silverstein and (to a lesser extent) Jack Prelutsky is not going to immediately find a Florian unless directed to do so.Mr. Florian is, to his credit, not one of those numerous Silverstein knock-offs you stumble over in the poetry section of the library room.The man goes for grander visions.Big sweeping pictures that involve watercolor, gouache, colored pencils, inks, tin foil, candy wrappers (I'm not making this up, you know), shredded papers, stencils, rubber stamps, and (to quote the book's back page), "much collage on primed brown paper bags".The results are these ambitious animalian dreamscapes where the poems are merely half the final product.Quite frankly, I incline more towards poetry books like,"If Not For the Cat", but I can definitely see Florian's appeal.

If you've read a Florian before than you know what to expect.In this book we are treated to twenty-one poems of various wild creatures.Everything from lowly insects, to man-eating sharks, to sleepy creeping sloths have their moment in the sun here.It takes a while to get into the book, but once you do it's increasingly amusing.Not laugh-your-socks-off amusing.More mildly-chuckle-and-then-ponder-the-truth-in-the-writing amusing.Some poems are plays on words.The poem, "The Ant", consists of four panicked lines that read simply, "I wANTed to write / A poem on an ANT / I'm frANTic- / I cAN'T".I won't even repeat the lines in the poem "The Terns" except to say that it's a groaner of a pun.By the end, you find you've met a wide variety of critters in a surprising variety of ways.

To my mind, Mr. Florian is at his best when he goes for something with a little atmosphere to it.My favorite poem out of the bunch is, without question, "The Owl".On the left-hand page are sixteen yellow pairs of eyes huddled on the floor of a deep dark forest.Above them, glowing far larger are almost hypnotic peepers of a creature who proclaims, "I am the eyes / And ears of night / The say I'm wise - / I say they're right".You'll find yourself in shivers just staring at the inky blue/blackness of the picture for minutes on end.You'll also find yourself returning to it.

Will kids like this book?Doggone it if I know.I think that Mr. Florian's books work particularly well as writing exercises in schools and classrooms.The teacher reads a bunch of his poems aloud (turning and twisting the books as necessary) then encourages the kids to write their own wild kingdom prose and pictures in his style.Children do not, by and large, seek out poetry on their own unless they are looking for something silly.Nevertheless, I suspect that in many households this book will be much beloved (and certain poems favored over others) for years and years to come.A lovely offering and some unique takes.

.... and.... we're done.

A tempting menagerie
In one of his most artful surprises yet, Douglas Florian has created another delightful, spine-tingling gaggle of animals, the usual tongue-twisting, alliterative troupe: the manta ray, the penguin, the bush baby, the bats, the slugs, the terns, the wallaby and, my favorite, the sloth:

"Up a tree you slowly creep,
The twenty hours straight you sleep."

The artwork in this latest collection is superior, art-iculate and gaily colored, sure to inspire young minds with fanciful thoughts, even singing the praises of the slug:

"Slugs are ugly.
Slugs are lowly.
Slugs climb mountains
Very slowly."

These simple poems alongside such quirky critters that leap from Florian's mind offer a world of adventure, a humorous peak into the lives of creatures great and small. With consummate skill, Florian has combined whimsy with some remarkable artwork, a book sure to be beloved of children and adults alike. If you're like me, you know a few "grownups" who will appreciate the wonderful illustrations in zoo's who. Who says we have to grow up anyway?

"I wANTed to write
A poem on an ANT.
I'm frANTic-
I cANT."

Luan Gaines/2005.

Another fun read/look
Again, my son and I both got a kick out of the poems on a menagerie of beasts -- funny and clever wordplay and a cool assortment of animals, too. The poem The Ant was a big fave for us both, making my son start looking for the word "ant" in EVERYTHING. And,if the poems and pictures weren't enough, at the back of the book, there's a little paragraph about how the illustrations were made. We then had to go back through every picture to find various items that are part of the collages (and we still haven't found any candy wrappers). A lot of fun for us.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Review of Albee's "The Zoo Story"
Edward Albee's "The Zoo Story" analyzes the mind of the emotionally and physically afflicted man in search of direction, if you will, or at least an apt form of comfort.It is creatively set in one scene - one simple setting that, in a way, hints at the realism of the play and how such a situation should not be thought of as uncommon to man; for there are many emotionally and physically afflicted men in search of comfort, and, in the same simplicity of the development of this story, we, who are accountable for our human race, can provide an apt form of comfort that does not involve death, but rather life.

Best of the best
If you don't like him, you don't get him.Read it again.

Bravo to Edward Albee!Brilliant!
These plays are highly thought provoking and flow very well.Both have odd plots that keep you interested.The obviously stronger of the two, The Zoo Story, combines comedy with drama in a very interesting way.Only fourstars because reading the play does not substitute for seeing the play'sproduction with all the interaction. ... Read more

Product Description
Who are the people that serve your community? From police, to plumbers, introduce kids to the people who work in their community. Each book focuses where the workers perform their duties, what the workes do and wear,, and what equipment they use. ... Read more