  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 09/01/2013 PreS-Gr 2—In this debut picture book, a little girl imagines a zoo with no cages and an assortment of uniquely talented animals. After securing a moose that makes cow noises, she would gather sharks that read underwater and an ox that cooks. Bears would drive cars, and the sheep would take bubble baths. Children will giggle at the wild creatures' antics. As day turns to night, a pillow fight and a misdirected throw of dough cause the denizens to get out of control. "Looking around I would quickly assess,/this zoo that I grew was a zoo-rific mess!" She is able to calm down the chaos, but as the last page demonstrates, not her imagination. Truesdell's cartoon illustrations center around the animals' unexpected behaviors. Perfect for storytimes that explore make-believe worlds.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 11/01/2013 A girl sits beneath a clothesline, reading animal books and dreaming of a zoo to call her own (“If I were allowed to invent my own zoo, / the first thing I’d have is a moose that said ‘moo’”). In no time, a rhyming cavalcade of ridiculous animals besets her backyard. Zebras dance in platform shoes, sheep bubble bathe in birdbaths, fish draw with crayons, and an ox serves eggs as a short-order cook. By book’s end, the girl is exhausted by her own imaginings and sets out to regularize her folly (“So, POOF! I’d take back the juice from the goose, / the dough from the goat, / and the moo from the moose”). Hamburg’s couplets frolic like the animals themselves, full of vim and folly. And Truesdell’s jolly cartoons, with their animate energy, sketchy charm, and backyard detail, make for a lighthearted accompaniment. This one is as much fun as it sounds, and it will find a regular spot in the storytime rotation. - Copyright 2013 Booklist. Loading...
 |