Book Description
Little ones love to play peek-a-boo. With its oversize flaps and bright, bold illustrations, this follow-up to the highly successful Peek-a-Moo! is sure to be another hit with young readers. On every page, kids play peek-a-boo with a different animal found at the zoo, guessing what it is, then lifting the flap to find out. Each animal has a different sound that becomes part of the peek-a-boo game: Guess who? "Peek-a-roar!" says the lion. "Peek-a-ooo-ooo-ooo!" says the chimpanzee. The sweet, funny animals will keep kids laughing, while the large trim size and sturdy binding will ensure many hours of lift-the-flap fun! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

One of the best flap books for young children!
My 8 month old daughter loves flap books, and this is by far one of her favorites!The flaps are large and easy for her to pull down (I like that they all pull down so she can do it by herself).The pictures underneath of the animals are large and brightly colored.It is truly a favorite and I'd love the whole series!We are thinking of getting Peek-a-pet next!

Great for toddlers!
Pages and pictures are nice and big. My 14 months loves it.

Giggles galore
My son lights up and laughs when he sees this book.He loves the peekaboo concept, but giggles even harder when mommy gets the sound "wrong." If you are signing with your child, this book provides a great opportunity to reinforce the sign with the animal sound.

One note, my niece was scared of this book when she first got it.We think it was the was the eyes are drawn...but who knows!

Highly recommended.

Wonderful book!
My 8 month old son Oliver loves this book!We have read it so many times that I can simply recite the book & he will instantly smile.The pictures are lovely . . . colorful, simple & large.The sounds of the animals delight him.I would highly recommend this book to other parents.

Strange Animals but Baby Loves It
My daughter is now 9 months old and peek-a-boo is her favorite game.She really likes this book.The flaps are big enough for her to lift by herself.Personally I find it a strange choice of animals for me to mimic their noises.E.g. "snort! goes the rhinocerous".I didn't realise there was a "Peek-a-moo" book which I'd probably prefer.My daughter doesn't seem to care though and loves this book. ... Read more

Book Description
Curious George and the man with the yellow hat visit the zoo. A hungry Curious George snatches a pail of bananas from the zoo keeper. Though he shouldn't have taken the bananas, George soon changes the zookeeper's shouts to praise with his clever, helpful ways. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Curious George
I love all the curious George books. Who Doesn't?

author of "Hobo Finds A Home"

avoid all these CG adapted from the film series.
the art is awful! just freeze frames from a poor quality film. the stories are garbage too. they jump to the conclusion, and only seem to be written to correspond to the bad pictures. forget these curious george titles, they are all being rewritten. the CG visits the aquarium used to be one of these crappy film adaptation but recently got rewritten and redrawn. better off with the higher quality titles not written from the film series.

Too Bad It Shows a Man Smoking!
Adapted from the stills of the Curious George film series, Curious George Visits the Zoo would be a decent addition to the CG books--except that it shows a man lounging on a blanket in the park with his wife and young child...while smoking a cigarette!

This past weekend we visited a bookstore and my son wanted not one, but SEVEN Curious George books to add to his collection (he already had several at home). Curious George Visits the Zoo was one of the books we bought.

Because my son wanted 7 books--and because they were Curious George--I didn't feel a need to screen them. Imagine my surprise when I read the book at home and saw a man smoking on one of the pages!

Fortunately, the man holds the smoking cigarette in front of his body (while smoke curls towards the sky)--and his shirt is gray with dark stripes. I took a pencil and shaded out the cigarette and it blended OK. Because the stills of the animated series are sort of fuzzy anyway, I did a decent job of disguising it.

Still, images like this do NOT belong in a children's book!

Other than that, the story is fine--typical mayhem as George steals the zookeeper's bucket of bananas which causes a little boy to lose his red balloon (he ends up crying!)--sending his Mom into a panic. George saves the day, as usual, but really--he's just remedying a mess he caused in the first place!

This book is geared towards ages 4-8, but has less text than books like Curious George and the Puppies. If you don't mind books featuring smoking adults (!)--or are willing to shade out the image with a pencil--then it's a decent Curious George book. But why bother, when there are better books in the series that DON'T require such touch ups?

Another great George classic
Once again we meet George... as usual he's finding trouble but in the end it all works out. Rated 4 stars because although this book was written many years ago, some people might find the caged animals objectional. Thank goodness zoos have come a long way since this was written. My toddler loves both George and zoo animals so in the end it was still a great read.

Any Curious George is a Classic
Any Curious George is a Classic for kids. It's relatable because my twins are as curious as this monkey. ... Read more

Book Description

To modern sensibilities, nineteenth-century zoos often seem to be unnatural places where animals led miserable lives in cramped, wrought-iron cages. Today zoo animals, in at least the better zoos, wander in open spaces that resemble natural habitats and are enclosed, not by bars, but by moats, cliffs, and other landscape features. In Savages and Beasts, Nigel Rothfels traces the origins of the modern zoo to the efforts of the German animal entrepreneur Carl Hagenbeck.

By the late nineteenth century, Hagenbeck had emerged as the world's undisputed leader in the capture and transport of exotic animals. His business included procuring and exhibiting indigenous peoples in highly profitable spectacles throughout Europe and training exotic animals -- humanely, Hagenbeck advertised -- for circuses around the world. When in 1907 the Hagenbeck Animal Park opened in a village near Hamburg, Germany, Hagenbeck brought together all his business interests in a revolutionary zoological park. He moved wild animals out of their cages and into "natural landscapes" alongside "primitive" peoples from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the islands of the Pacific. Hagenbeck had invented a new way of imagining captivity: the animals and people on exhibit appeared to be living in the wilds of their native lands.

By looking at Hagenbeck's multiple enterprises, Savages and Beasts demonstrates how seemingly enlightened ideas about the role of zoos and the nature of animal captivity developed within the essentially tawdry business of placing exotic creatures on public display. Rothfels provides both fascinating reading and much-needed historical perspective on the nature of our relationship with the animal kingdom.

Book Description

On a rainy day in May 1988, a lowland gorilla named Willie B. stepped outdoors for the first time in twenty-seven years, into a new landscape immersion exhibit. Born in Africa, Willie B. had been captured by an animal collector and sold to a zoo. During the decades he spent in a cage, zoos stopped collecting animals from the wild and Americans changed the ways they wished to view animals in the zoo. Zoos developed new displays to simulate landscapes like the Amazon River basin and African forests. Exhibits similar to animals' natural habitats began to replace old-fashioned animal houses.

But such displays are only the most recent effort of zoos to present their audiences with an authentic experience of nature. Since the first zoological park opened in the United States in Philadelphia in 1874, zoos have promised their visitors a journey into the natural world. And for more than a century they have been popular places for education and recreation: every year more than 130 million Americans go to zoos to look at the animals and enjoy a day outdoors.

The first book-length history of American zoos, Animal Attractions examines the meaning of nature in the city by looking at the ways zoos have assembled and displayed their animal collections. Situated literally and culturally in the American middle landscape, zoos are concrete expressions of longstanding tensions between wildness and civilization, science and popular culture, education and entertainment. In their efforts to promote nature appreciation, they reveal much about how our culture envisions the natural world and the human place in it and how these ideas have changed.

Book Description
Zoos and animal rights seem utterly opposed to each other. In this controversial and timely book, Stephen Bostock argues that they can develop a more harmonious relationship. He examines the diverse ethical and technical issues involved, including human cruelty, human domination over animals, the well-being of wild animals outside their natural habitat, and the nature of wild and domestic animals. In his analysis, Bostock draws attention to the areas which give rise to misconceptions.

This book explores the long history of zoos, as well as current philosophical debates, to argue for a conservational view of their role in the modern world. Anyone concerned with humanity's relationship with other animals and the natural world will find this to be thought-provoking and rewarding reading. ... Read more

Book Description
The Chelsea Park Zoo is a small zoo, and a slightly run down one at that. But to twins Andrew and Allison, it's their favorite place in the world. To the animals who live there, it's their home. And to the kindly, gentle zookeeper, Morgan, it's his life. So when the city announces the zoo will be shut down and the animals shipped to zoos all over the country, the twins -- and the animals -- spring into action to save Morgan's Zoo.

But closing the zoo isn't the only danger afoot. The animals soon discover they have a chance to do more than save their home -- they have a chance to become heroes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Morgans Zoo
This book is mostly about zoo and problems that occur in there. The bool is called Morgan's Zoo because Morgan is name of the man who owns the zoo. he also had two friends of his and their names were Alisson and Andrew and they helped Morgan to take care of animals and all the zoo. the zoo was called Chelsea Park Zoo and Morgans family were his animals and he treated them all as if they were his children, calling each by name. In the morning Morgan was walking around and looking how animals doing, but this morning he went around and didn't say nothing and the animals knew something was terribly wrong. Williame the pigeon was the first to hear the news and the news were the zoo is about to close and Clarence the chimp would be the first to go. Morgan was heartbroken so were the animals, but Alisson and Andrew had some plans to save the zoo and animals had some plans of there own. It seemed that nothing could stop from not closing the zoo, but something should work because closing zoo was most imppossible thing of all. So it was day before closing and some man came up to Morgan while he was walking around and said that they were closing the zoo and they will start taking parts apart today. While they were talking one of the man dropped the diament and chipm saw it and when they went on chimp picked it up and showed to the Morgan.Morgan saw the diamemts and he knew that those man were robbors and in the news he herd about them. Morgan knew that the zoo is being broken by those man.The closing day was today and Morgan called cops. When cops came they didn't find any man there. Sone Nan Potter the boss came to the zoo znd gave speech about zoo and to not close the zoo and everyone was with him. MOrgan was happy so were the kids that the zoo is not closing. Those man the robbers were found later in the trees souranded by lions and tigars. For many families zoo was unthinkkable to close as a summer without lemonade. Everyday there were more and more people coming to the zoo and day after day and all summer.

Something Tells me It's All Happining At The Zoo
Morgan's Zoo is a brillant story about animals that try to help Morgan (the zookepper) save the Chelsea Park zoo from being torn down.James Howe wrote using lots of details. I really admire this because in school I have always learned to be very vivid.For example, he said, Mayor Thayer's secretary informed him that the Mayor was out.I had a brillant time reading this book,I recomend you to read it.

Something Tells me It's All Happining At The Zoo
Morgan's Zoo is a brillant story about animals that try to help Morgan (the zookepper) save the Chelsea Park zoo from being torn down.James Howe wrote using lots of details. I really admire this because in school I have always learned to be very vivid.For example, he said, Mayor Thayer's secretary informed him that the Mayor was out.I had a brillant time reading this book,I recomend you to read it. ... 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 Book Description
Four animal friends on the lam.

When an anteater, an elephant, a turtle, and a flamingo go over the wall at City Zoo, the adventure begins! Hot on their heels come the Zookeepers, but for this band of escapees the quest for a new life -- a better life -- knows no bounds. Told with the flair of a 1930s Hollywood drama, this clever romp follows the heroic foursome as they take up the fugitive's life among humans. Tohby Riddle's droll, soft-toned images are filled with an array of pop culture references, from Edward Hopper's Nighthawks to the Beatles' Abbey Road. As proclaimed by The Horn Book in its "News from Down Under" column, "The result soars straight and true right across age barriers . . . Gently clever, exquisitely designed, rich with allusion." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Very very worth while
Great kids book by a vitural unknown. After reading (and buying) the Singing Hat, I took this from the library and had to have it.It even uses the Nighthawks picture with a little liberty taken.The guy's a genius, and my literary hero.He's the Dave Barry of Australia who quit to write childrens books, and did a great job.Enough irony for the adults.Get it.

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 mydaughter.I like books that open doors for children and that encouragethem to ask questions about real life things. Like: "Why did the 'badguys' take them away?", and "Will 'the bad guys' always try andget the Flamingo?".It has shown my daughter, the price that freedomsometimes has.Very different approach to children's books, with anundertone of seriousness, and a hint of humor. If you want 'jolly', do notget this book.If you want lessons-on-life, do! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A delight to read
This was a hit with my child! She found it at the library and now I am searching for a used copy of it. Mister Muster likes to go to the zoo every day to see his animal friends. When the weather is bad and he can't go, he is very sad and so are the animals. One day the elephant steals the key to the cages and lets all the animals go. They all head to Mister Muster's apartment for a visit. When the police show up to take the animals back to the zoo, they hide in various places around the apartment. My little girl thought it was so funny to see the elephants trying to hide under the bed and the monkeys in the sink. Mister Muster ends up being the assistant zoo keeper and every one is happily situated at the zoo.

Up there with Andrew Henry's Meadow
Reading the book A ZOO FOR MISTER MUSTER by Arnold Lobel is a great childhood memory.I was delighted to find it at a local thrift shop recently so that I may share it with my neices and nephews.

The simple story about Mister Muster and his love for the animals at the zoo and their subsequent love for him, along with all of the imaginative illustrations made me, as a child, wonder if un-domesticated animals and people could really co-habitate.I was happy that Mister Muster eventually got to be the zoo keeper after the animals revolted and ran away to his house!

And the imaginative places the animals hid is just where a child would hide if they wanted to hide.

It's a must read for any child--especially the imaginative and sensitive kind! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Cute babies!
Our year old daughter loves this book and Funny Farm (Tom Arma).She loves all the little babies dressed up.I recommend a hardcover because it gets so much use!Tom Arma does awesome pictures, she loves reading his books and brings them to us daily (again and again!).

Zoo Crew is super for toddlers!
My 15 month-old son loves this book so much that he brings it everywhere!There is something about other babies that just fascinate other babies!Tom Arma does a super job with the pictures!I highly recommend this and all his books!

A Read Again (and Again!) Favorite at Our House
My son (currently 17 months old) has loved this book since he first layed eyes on it four months ago.

Each animal in this zoo is represented by a baby dressed up in an animal costume.My son first payed attention to the baby faces in the book and has since started pointing to the costumes and the various aspects of the animals that are pointed out in the book.That sounds a bit dull when I write that, but it's really quite fun to watch and listen to him exclaim over moose antlers and crocodile tails.I'm more than happy to read it over and over again for that reason, as well as the fact that I think the pictures are quite cute, too.

If I had to make a complaint it would be that the costumes are sometimes a little more representative than accurate.That is, the peacock is dressed in a brilliant blue all over, which is different from the real bird.But there are other books to teach my son that (as well as real zoos!).

This book is helping him to love books even more as he looks at the faces of the other babies and the costumes they are wearing.

A Wonderful Day at the Zoo!
My 9 month old daughter absolutely loves this book.The illustrations are terrific, they are bold and beautiful.Within this book it shows pictures of animals(babies) that you would see at the zoo, and tells of the noisessome of them make.It also describes what special features some of themhave.A few example are as follows: A gorilla has fur, a Frog says"ribbit" (this photo is our favorite), a Moose has antlers, butPeacocks really dress in style!

Tom Arma does a wonderful job putting hisbooks together.I find that my daughter really likes to look at thesebooks.When we sit down to read together she always manages to grab one ofhis books.When we read this book, I try to make the animal noise thatgoes along with the photo.She normally gets a good laugh when I dothis.

We would also highly recommend these books by Tom Arma: "Funny Farm" and "Water Babies".We also wouldrecommend "Tyke Osaurs".These books are great for the youngreaders in your life.And this parent really enjoys reading them with mydaughter.I really look forward to story time when we read any of thesebooks. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A very funny and dumb book!
I laughed out loud when I first read the dumb bunnies and I still do now! Even though it has no point, you can't help but laugh at the way that the Dumb Bunnies act!

A very funny and dumb book!
I laughed out loud when I first read the dumb bunnies and I still do now! Even though it has no point, you can't help but laugh at the way that the Dumb Bunnies act!

The silliest books !
Does any one know that Sue Denim is the ONE AND ONLY DAVE PILKEY!He writes the book under the girls name Sue Denim(pseudonym). Funny huh!!I have to say that my kids can't get enough of these books.
No one needs to look into the detail of the book to see that kids read it and laugh. It's funny, and my kids have had a good laugh for the past years that they have owned these books. They never fail to crack up.

3 1/2* Not Completely Bunny
...but it is fairly funny.Sue Denim's "Dumb Bunnies" series is full of verbal (and visual) puns and other language-based humor, much of it clever, some of it puerile. The humor can be at a fairly low level, and the adjective "dumb" is not used in any redeeming way. Unlike the similarly confused "Amelia Bedelia" character, the bunnies are neither particularly sweet nor well-meaning; unlike "Curious George," there isn't a tradeoff between mischief and heroics; unlike Homer Simpson, the questionable IQ is not balanced by other personal qualities.

Despite these minor objections, Denim does knows humor for the young set.In this story, the "dumb bunnies" confuse themselves and others during a zoo trip, and generally cause trouble for all. A lot of the humor is in the background zoo signs:"Free Admission. Free Ice Cream. Free Popcorn. All For One Low Price," and "Hot Dogs. Chilly Dogs. Room-Temperature Dogs." Dave Pilkey's illustrations are bright and colorful without overwhelming.A good book for around ages 4 to 7.Note: Although for older readers/listeners, Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" books deliver even more bathroom humor (for those who like that--and I know that many kids do), but they are more cleverly designed and plotted than this book.

It's hilarious!
I am almost seven years old.I'm learning to read.This is my favorite book.Because the dumb bunnies do funny things.The pictures are funny too.Read this book if you like silly books. ... Read more

Book Description
What could be more awesome than celebrating your birthday with the animals in the zoo? Especially when they're putting on the party. The raccoons blow up balloons, the bats pass out the hats, the lynx pours all the drinks. There's never been a party as wild as this! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Can My Next Birthday Party Be Like This One?
This book delivers on the promise in its jacket cover with Rose's enchanting, lilting rhymes and Munsinger's uproarious and lively watercolor illustrations of a zoo full of animals putting on a birthday party for a delighted young boy.It is "a birthday present to open again and again."The irresistible rhymes include:"'But where to begin?' asked the shy tamarin.`Blow up balloons.' puffed the raccoons."Laughter or at least a broad smile will erupt when this verse is read in its full-spread illustration of eight raccoons eagerly blowing up colorful birthday balloons and cheerfully floating up to the ceiling with them while a bewildered tamarin looks on.Similar hilarious delights fill the entire book as the animals progress from setting up the party to a playful and joyous celebration complete with presents, games, and cake.But, don't forget to turn the over the last page or you'll miss a great surprise.Highly recommended for ages 2 to 6

The most exciting birthday celebration ever
Birthday Zoo is a joyful picture book by Deborah Lee Rose about the most exciting birthday celebration ever. A whimsical poem about fun activities suggested by various playful animal friends, and cheerful color illustrations by Lynn Munsinger make Birthday Zoo an upbeat, entertaining, and highly recommended picture book for beginning readers.

A ZOO-FULL OF GREETINGS
What do children enjoy more than a birthday party?Young folks find a visit to the zoo exciting.The combination of the two in "Birthday Zoo" is bound to bring smiles of delight.

Illustrated in engaging watercolors and presented in catchy rhyme, the story opens witha question, "`Hey, what's the big deal?'" noticed the seal."When it's discovered that the big deal is a birthday preparations begin.

"`What do we do?' asked the emu.`Make everyone happy,' said the okapi."And that's precisely what this joyful narrative will do as balloons are blown up, party hats distributed, and refreshments served.

At the last, imagine being wished happy birthday by a whole zoo!

- Gail Cooke ... Read more