1 Zany Zoo

Goodnight Gorilla took us all to the world of the zoo by night as the zookeeper is trailed home by a parade of happy escape artist animals. But, by day the zoo is a totally zany place as witnessed by Lori Degman's 1 Zany Zoo. A little boy tired of standing on the sidewalk with nothing to do and sneaks into the zoo to see what he can do. Hear the voice of Dr. Seuss ringing in your ears, perhaps? This is a zany, rhyming romp that counts its way from animal cage to animal cage to see what shenanigans they're up to in there. And are they ever. First the fox grabs the keys and off he goes chased by the zookeeper. Although the "fox kept his cool," he "landed right in the walrus's pool." That's one. Then, "2 sporty zebras in goggles and flippers were snipping the walrus's whiskers" well, you get the idea. The excitement mounts as they run onto the elephants who are packing to leave -a skunk issue- and then someone strikes up the band for musical chairs. Watch out for those hippos. Kids will look forward to the uproar and the delight of undoing the adult world until the zookeeper finally gets control with a pretty forceful command at the end. This one would really appeal to those reluctant listeners who want something with some action and a bit of disruption. 32 pages