Zoo's Who

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.

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.

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....