Dear Zoo
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Dear Zoo

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20  ·  rating details  ·  1,060 ratings  ·  92 reviews
Dear Zoo is twenty-five years old -- and still as popular as ever
And with an updated look, this children's classic is sure to delight a new generation of readers!
Paperback
Published by Puffin Books
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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,300)
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Aisha
The book ‘Dear Zoo’ by Rod Campbell was a favourite amongst the children at my nursery. It’s a story about a child who writes to the zoo asking for a pet, and receives a number of unsuitable animals from them. The children at my nursery really loved the interactive ‘lift the flap’ element and would ask for this book to be read to them again and again. After memorising the entire story they would then be reading it back to me!
It was a great way to build children’s knowledge and understandi...more
Paul Foley
This is an excellent reading book for reception class. It is about a boy who writes to the zoo for a pet and the zoo sends him a number of pets which he sends back for a number of reasons eg.” The Giraffe is too tall”. The good thing about the book is that it is a lift the flap book so the animals are covered. It would be useful for introducing a lesson about different animals eg. Read that page and get the children what animal at the zoo would be too tall? There are a lot of uses for this book...more
Sophie Harman
Dear Zoo
By Rod Campbell

Although this book is nearly 30 years old, it is still one of the most popular children’s books around.
I recently read this book to a reception class; they really enjoyed it, and loved seeing what was behind each flap. After, we asked to children to think of their own zoo animals to draw and label. Underneath their drawing was the sentence ‘I sent him back because he was ...... ’. The children had to think of an adjective word to describe why their ani...more
Ross Oates
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell is a story of the zoo sending various animals to a child. The zoo sends many animals which all have different characteristics but each time the child finds something wrong with each animal. The book has flaps, which allow the children to be interactive with the book. It has a repetitive structure, which helps the young readers to recognize words that they will often use. While on placement I used this book with my year 1 class to help them start writing sentences. The re...more
Allison
Allison rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: Toddlers & Up
Recommended to Allison by: 1001 CBYMRBYGU
Shelves: 1001-cbymrbygu
It's a Lift-the-flap book and I LOVE lift-the-flap books! I really feel that they make books really adventurous for children and help cement the wonder and appreciation of books in their minds. The story is very humorously written so that children will comprehend the absurdity of having a giraffe as a pet (for example). The illustrations are bright and colorful but also simple. The flaps provide an opportunity for children to make educated guesses as to which animal is in the box from visual and...more
Amy Musser
Described as a lift-the-flap book, this board book is about an unnamed narrator who writes to the zoo asking for a pet. Unfortunately, the zoo is a little confused and they keep sending pets that just won’t do. Each animal is delivered in a crate or a basket and you have to lift the flap to see what’s inside. After sending back lots of potential pets (the elephant was too big, the giraffe too tall, the frog too jumpy), the zoo finally sends the perfect pet, a dog.


Full Review at P...more
Sarap
I remember reading this book as child and still love it. The 'lift the flaps' make the book interactive which is a great way of getting young children interested in the book. Children in the early years would be interested in what's behind the flaps. This book is also a great way to get children talking about the different characteristics of animals in simple terms. Children can be asked to describe what they can see in the pictures. Furthermore this book is available as dual language books whic...more
David
Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book by Rod Campbell

"Dear Zoo" long has been a lap-time favorite. The story starts with a letter to the zoo requesting a pet. But as the colorful flaps reveal, most of the animals are inappropriate--until the perfect one arrives. (Goodreads Summary)

This classic lift the flap book is perfect for storytimes or one on one reading. The repetition is great for children and helps them learn the pattern of this predictable book. Good for ear...more
Carriek
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Isra

One of my favourite childhood stories! Dear Zoo is a wonderful childrens book that uses flaps to hide different animals in the zoo. This makes the book exciting as you want to discover which animal is under the flap on each page. Its a great introduction to animals and the pictures are bright & colourful! The authour describes how different animals would not make suitable pets for humans and at the end of the book shows how a dog is the right pet to choose. A fun and enjoyable read to share...more
Amy Barrett
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
Dear Zoo is an entertaining story of the zoo sending a pet. The zoo sends many pets which all have different qualities, which are not right for the child. It had flaps which allow the children to be interactive with the book. In places it is very stereotypical about the animals making some of them ‘scary’. It has a repetitive structure which would encourage young readers to join in with. I feel this book is aimed at EFST and would be enjoyed being read aloud.
Carolyn
Board book with lift the flaps. V liked it, L loves it.
My only quibble is with how the snake is described - I always change it from 'scary' to 'scaly' or another 's' word when reading the book aloud to my little ones. Snakes are beautiful animals, in their own way. I don't want to teach my kids to be scared of them, just to treat them with respect, as they would any other wild animal. After all, even squirrels, while cute and fluffy, can carry rabies and have some serious teeth for biting...more
Laura
This is a sweet little board book with flaps that my two-year-old can open all by himself. The story is quick and the animals invite plenty of noise-making (provided you allow "slurp" for a giraffe and a spitting sound for a camel). I thought it was cute but not particularly awesome. However, the little boy of the house insisted on reading it over and over until I was tempted to hide it under the couch, so obviously it's likable.
Nicole
I used this book at 'lion' themed storytime. I was looking for a book that a small group of kids would get a kick out of "helping" me with. And they really liked this. In particular, they enjoyed guessing what animals where in each of the boxes, and were very proud when they guessed right. The hardest part was making sure that each kid got a turn displaying the pop-up :)
Connie
Children like a repetitive structure because it helps them understand what's going on and predict what will happen next. (For that matter, adults like it too! Repetition is a crucial part of traditional storytelling and modern-day speechifying.)

This one is about a child who wrote to the zoo for a pet and, being a zoo, they sent him/her all manner of exotic, but unsuitable animals before finally hitting on a puppy. Each animal is hidden inside a box of some sort, that's where the flap...more
Heather Tudhope
26 months - this was read at Tales for Two library story time. My initial thought was oh no, we are so past the board book flap phase. But the reader was awesome and made this a super fun story. The kids would guess what was in the box each time and then we'd make the animal sound. A+ for a read aloud book!
Stacey Starley
Great for my 1 year old and 3 year old. This entertained for 3 extensions on our checkout at the library and may end up in our library. Cute story about the zoo sending animals but why they aren't appropriate for sending home until they find the perfect animal. My girls LOVE it.
Dee-Ann
This was read to my sons special class at the public library today. His class mates really liked it, especially one with sever physicla disability as he was determined to open a flap. Simple fun story. It did not really grab my sons attention though, but it did the others.
Carissa
this book was very colorful and amusing. The story is about different animals being good pets. The book has flaps the child can lift up which the child will enjoy because it is interactive. The book helps with learning animals and learning which animal would be a good pet.
jacky
Natalie pulled this off the shelf at the library today. She didn't really want to sit down to read it at first, but the flaps kept her entertained for a couple minutes. She didn't enjoy it as much as the Spot books or Karen Katz's books.
Hanalei1208 Be
Very simple and a wonderful book to use in story time. Someone receives animals from the zoo but they are not quit what was expected; to big, to tall etc. Lifting the flaps will be a great excitement to reveal what kind of animal it is.
Keegan
My son likes lift-the-flap books. Plus, this one we got from the library so the flaps aren't sticky like a new one would be so it's easy for him to open up the flaps. I like the story. I also think it's a fun way to learn about animals.
Rebekah Kincheloe
This is a cute book about a child wanting a pet but zoo animals are not good for being pets. Each time there is new animal you find it behind a flap. It's great for helping an infant learn animals and identify them. Really cute book!
Kelsey
This book is about a child who writes to the zoo to send him a pet and the zoo keeps getting it wrong so he sends it back until the end of the story. Each of the pages has a flap for each of the hidden animals to be uncovered.
Carolyn
A great flap book! When a child asks the zoo for a pet, they deliver an assortment of zoo animals, but they are all too scary, too jumpy, too naughty, or just too big. Finally they think very hard and send the perfect pet.
Danielle
Henry can read this book by heart. It's quite amazing to see him sit there and read the story to me. It's so simple that it's easy for children of all ages to enjoy and a great first reader.
Charlotte
The narrator writes to the zoo asking for a pet and has to send all but one of animals back for various reasons. Great adjectives in the story! Kids who love peak-a-boo will also love this book.
Tdavis
Tdavis rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: Baby - Preschool
Lift flap books encourage exploration of books! Great introduction to how books can be fun!

Early Literacy Skills:

Print Motivation
Vocabulary
Tracy
(age 1) This board book was one of of Asher's first favorite books. Even before he could talk he loved lifting the flaps and making the animal sounds. Just a really cute book.
Sally
By far, Mason's very favorite book right now. I seriously read this to him every night at bedtime, and he eagerly reaches for the flaps with the delight of a first timer.
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last activity Jan 08, 2012 02:12pm
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