A boy goes to the Zoo with his Mum, Dad and brother, where they see a variety of animals and enjoy the delights of the zoo. Poor old mum has to endure Dad’s bad jokes and her two cheeky monkeys messing about, but they all have a good day in the end. 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.

The story doesn’t just concentrate on the animals in the zoo; it also talks about the family and has a few jokes, which gives it a different feel to your usual children’s story. The family on first appearance seem like a classic family, with the archetypes firmly in place. However this is a contemporary family, the characters are easily recognizable with people we could know, which give it a warm familiar quality. The protagonist himself is a character that is easily identifiable to primary school children and shows a realistic quality through the fact that children do misbehave! 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.

Multibuys

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 all know that it’s not possible to pet most of the animals at the zoo, so this book introduces younger children to what they might feel like if they were able to get up close. Fun for ages 1 – 4 years. Zoo was written and illustrated by Gail Gibbons. This informative book introduces readers to all of the work that zookeepers do at the zoo. From the early morning hours before guests arrive, to the final walk through at night, the easy to understand text and friendly illustrations touch on all the work that goes on behind the gates. Regardless. Is it a bit hypocritical of me to be endorsing this book, based on my ethical beliefs that animals are not toys to be swapped, sold on, imprisoned or treated as inanimate objects, blah, blah, blah. Am I delivering a dark, subconscious message of irresponsibility to my child when I read her this? A visit to the zoo can be full of so many fun adventures and learning opportunities. Kids can not only learn about the animals, but also the importance of protecting these animals and their habitats. This list of children’s books about the zoo embrace the wonder and joy of a day spent with the animals. You can also explore zoo animal pictures through real life example zoo books. 20 Zoo Books for Kids

Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle pair up again with this endangered animal version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I think it’s never too early for kids to learn about our fragile planet; it will be they, after all, who will have to save it! [picture book, ages 1 and up] 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. Good Night, Gorilla was written and illustrated by Peggy Rathmann. It’s bedtime at the zoo, but instead of going to bed, the gorilla manages to swipe the zookeeper’s keys and escape from his cage. Kids will love watching the gorilla follow behind the zookeeper as he does his final walk through around the zoo.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. 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 🙂 I doubt 22-month old little-AJ is thinking much about any of the above issues, but he thoroughly enjoys this book and has requested this to be read and re-read many times. But when she is forced into hiding for a thorough zoo cleaning, everyone realizes how important spiders are to the zoo ecosystem. I love this message because my kids are afraid of spiders and this picture book helps us to appreciate them. [picture book, ages 2 and up] The kids fought, more interested in lunch and souvenirs than the animals, found their daddy embarrassing, and didn't bother to laugh at the daddy's attempted jokes. The family's dynamic feels troubling, but so blatantly true at the same time. The ending makes us pause and think about the relationship between animals and human beings, and the ethical questions surrounding a zoo environment.