Reviews (2)

Life at the zoo
I have always loved Jack Hanna's informative (and frequently hilarious) segments on "Good Morning, America," so I was quite pleased to see his children's book, "Jungle Jack Hanna's What Zookeepers Do." The book combines an easy-to-read text with excellent color photos of the keepers and animals at the Columbus Zoo. The photos are credited to Rick A. Prebeg.

The book gives the feeling that the keepers and animals together form a real community--a sort of multispecies extended family. The text emphasizes the bonds of trust that must develop between the keepers and the zoo residents.

There are some wonderful images in this book: keeper Maureen caring for a baby gorilla named Akanyi, a lioness getting her teeth cleaned, rhea eggs in the incubator, and more. If your child loves the zoo or is generally interested in animals, this book is a good choice.

A Great Factual Zoo Book
Jack Hanna lives up to his great reputation as a zoo keeper with this informative, very interesting book about modern zoo life. He gives details about animal diets, exercise, health and dental care and animal training. As a teacher and lover of zoos I enjoyed learning more about the ways animals can be humanely treated while kept in zoo habitats. I also enjoyed Jungle Jack's personal comments about his love for various zoo animals! I highly recommend this book for zoo or animal lovers! ... Read more

Book Description

On Safari is a fun look at the things you'd see on an exotic adventure into the jungle. Dramatic photographs and informative text give children essential. Using simple vocabulary, the A First Look At Animals series explains how animals live, eat, and tend to their young. There's even a short quiz in the back of the book to let kids test their new animal knowledge. A great book for kids ages 3-7. ... Read more

Book Description

The winning bear who charmed young readers in Christmas with Teddy Bear and Good Times with Teddy Bear makes a welcome return in this adorable series of fun, gentle tales created expressly for younger children.

Today Teddy Bear and his mom are going to the petting zoo. Quack! Baa-baa! Moo-moo! Teddy can't wait to get to know all the animals! Teddy will waddle with the ducks, watch the pigs waggle their curly tails, and even meet a strange new animal called a llama. Later he will go home to pet his most favorite animal of all. Can you guess who that might be? ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Young Animal Lover's Delight
Our almost 2 year old daughter fell in love with this book immediately! We took it with us on our vacation and it kept her completely happy during a long car trip and even during late nights in a tent. The illustrations are adorable and young children quickly identify with Teddy's experiences at the petting zoo.

We, as parents, appreciated the excellent use of vocabulary and the introduction of several not so common petting zoo animals (llama, tortoise and deer). The author has also conveyed through Teddy Bear a respect and love for these animals.

This is an excellent book for animal lovers of all ages to share! ... Read more

Book Description

A squawking parrot wakes a stalking tiger and disturbs the sleep of a lion that roars...and a symphony of chattering and barking ensues, as all the animals race from the dormitory where they live to the zoo in time to greet the visitors. Following the style of The House That Jack Built, this third title in a series that includes Inside a Barn in the Country and Inside a House That Is Haunted uses picture words to encourage young children to "read" along with the text. Alyssa Satin Capucilli¹s delightful story and Tedd Arnold¹s hilarious illustrations will make this book a favorite among beginning readers. ... Read more

Book Description

A fun educational tool, Wraps helps kids build basic reading skills through memorable matching exercises.Wrap the string around the deck to connect every item in the top row of each page with its match on the bottom row.The color pictures, funny questions and hands-on wrapping action encourage learning and memorization.PUBCOMMENTS: There are reading and math Wraps for Kindergarten through Grade 2, plus a special multiplication edition. ... Read more

Book Description

Photographed in full color. A visit to the zoo introduces babies and

toddlers to the fascinating world of wild animals.




... Read more

Reviews (1)

A favorite of my 14 month old
This book is one of my 14 month old daughter's favorite books. It is small enough and light enough that she can carry it around easily in one hand and "read" it to herself, which I think is a big part of the appeal. The photos of animals are attractive and colorful and many are high contrast which makes it even more appealing to her. A number of the photos also include baby animals with their parents. The text is minimal - just the names of each animal, one per page. A nice basic book of animal photos, in a format that makes it very accessible for toddlers. ... Read more

Book Description

When trying to spot a real-life human, this alien family understands that it's important to know exactly what to look for. On a visit to one of our planet's zoos, they ready their camera and try to follow their not-very-well-informed Aliens' Guide to Earth. Through persistent trial and error (webbed feet? feathers? a striped coat?) these most unusual tourists are able to discover just what makes us humans the "most stupendous" animal of all! Hint: It rhymes with Dial. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great story, easy to understand and colorful pictures
My 3 year old enjoyed this book very much. It shows the difference between some of the zoo animals and humans. She knows now that penguins have webbed feet and wings, etc. We enjoyed reading it and enjoyed the colorful pictures.

Smile
This is a great book for the young children. The words are large and there are few to a page, which makes it easier for the children to memorize. It is about aliens who come down to earth to find a human. However instead of landing in a town the aliens land in a zoo, and they go from animal to animal thinking each one is a human at first but learning that they are not. At the end they aliens think that they have found a human and they take a picture...however is it really a human. The story is light hearted. I like this story because it shows the importance of description and communication, sense the aliens didn't know enough about humans, they thought that the animals were humans. The author did a great job at introducing the different kinds of animals in a zoo.

Funny twist on a typical picture book format
We're all familiar with picture books in which a character is searching for family or identity based on comparing characteristics of the creatures he/she meets against his/her own features. Well, in this book, a family of aliens has touched down on earth, in a zoo, and they are seeking an example of human life. They must have come on an off-day because there aren't any humans at the zoo, but there are lots of animals. The alien mom compares each animal against the description of humans in her book and finds that none quite fit the bill . . . until the end of the book. The payoff is that they identify a smiling gorilla as a human. The picture is a funny one, and the text concludes that they have discovered that humans have the greatest smiles (based on the toothy grin of the gorilla). The book is fun to read and the illustrations are funny. I would recommend it for kindergarten-age kids. ... Read more

Book Description

Zebra and friends are playing hide-and-seek in Zebra’s very stripy home.It’s hard to find all of Zebra’s friends.Lift the flaps to find out where they are all hiding! This upscale, case-bound, lift-the-flap board book will keep children busy! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Many years ago, in a daring escape still talked of in zoos worldwide, an elephant, an anteater, a turtle, and a flamingo went "over the wall" at the city zoo. This is their story, spun tersely but dramatically in simple language, accompanied by strangely compelling monochromatic illustrations that reference pop culture icons from Edward Hopper's Nighthawks to King Kong. Young children might not be ready for the obvious parallels drawn between prisons and zoos, but the gentle humor and marvelous pictures will draw them into the story. Each of the animals, except the flamingo, is eventually recaptured--the anteater when he faints in front of a taxidermist's, the turtle when he falls on his back in a truck stop and is unable to get up--but their experience as fugitives makes for fun children's reading. No one knows what happened to the flamingo (unconfirmed sightings include a grainy illustration that resembles the loch ness monster) but in the annals of zoo history, he lives on as a symbol of freedom and hope. It's easy to see why this book was short-listed for the Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1997 by Tohby Riddle. With permission of the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.) (Ages 4 to 8) --Richard Farr ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A great escape
Tohby Riddle is one of my favourite children's authors. He has a great sense of humour that appeals to adults and children alike. Great Escape uses lots of pop culture references - The Beatles Abbey Road album cover, King Kong and the Lochness Monster, etc - in a way that creates humour for more mature readers, but because the fun and exciting story doesn't rely on understanding these references, the book remains a real crowd-pleaser.
One of the great myths about kid's picture books is that if they're not bright and colourful, they're no good. Riddle's Black&White illustrated Great Escape should convince sceptics once and for all that this is not true.

An adult story for children.
The author and illustrator of this book did quite a job! It is very 'tricky' to tell such a serious story, that carries such deep meaning, to a 6 year old. But it worked! I have had to read it a few times to my daughter. I like books that open doors for children and that encourage them to ask questions about real life things. Like: "Why did the 'bad guys' take them away?", and "Will 'the bad guys' always try and get the Flamingo?". It has shown my daughter, the price that freedom sometimes has. Very different approach to children's books, with an undertone of seriousness, and a hint of humor. If you want 'jolly', do not get this book. If you want lessons-on-life, do! ... Read more

Book Description

At the zoo, Dick, Jane, and Sally see something funny, something big, and something small. What else do they see? With this interactive format, you can decide! Use your 75 stickers to create a new Dick and Jane story with every read. ... Read more

Book Description

Have you ever thought about bringing home a stray cat or dog? What about a penguin? When Tina meets a penguin who’s tired of living in the zoo, she decides to help him escape! With quick thinking and a clever disguise, Tina sneaks her newfound friend home. But it doesn’t take long for her to realize that a penguin is a very peculiar pet — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! ... Read more