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21st out of 78 books
—
131 voters
My Heart Is Like a Zoo
by
Michael Hall
A heart can be hopeful, or silly, or happy. A heart can be rugged, or snappy, or lonely. A heart holds every different feeling, and debut author-artist Michael Hall captures each one with a delicate touch.
For each feeling, the bold, graphic artwork creates an animal out of heart shapes, from "eager as a beaver" to "angry as a bear" to "thoughtful as an owl." An accessible...more
For each feeling, the bold, graphic artwork creates an animal out of heart shapes, from "eager as a beaver" to "angry as a bear" to "thoughtful as an owl." An accessible...more
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
December 22nd 2009
by Greenwillow Books
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Audience: I think this book would good for Pre- K through 2nd grade.
Appeal: The book introduces children to different new concepts about emotions through animals. Every animal represents a variety of emotions with rhyming text. I think young student will like this book. Each animal is made out of colorful hearts. The text in the book is short but meaningful. Students can relate to the emotions in the book.
Application: This book would be good to read to your students in class. After, have a grou...more
Appeal: The book introduces children to different new concepts about emotions through animals. Every animal represents a variety of emotions with rhyming text. I think young student will like this book. Each animal is made out of colorful hearts. The text in the book is short but meaningful. Students can relate to the emotions in the book.
Application: This book would be good to read to your students in class. After, have a grou...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Read at family story time on 7/30/11: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
Read at Baby Lap Time on 4/19/12 and 4/20/12: storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/2012/04...
Read at Pajama Story Time on 2/13/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
Read at Baby Lap Time on 2/14/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
Read at Baby Lap Time on 4/19/12 and 4/20/12: storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/2012/04...
Read at Pajama Story Time on 2/13/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
Read at Baby Lap Time on 2/14/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
My Heart is Like a Zoo, by Michael Hall, is a short picture book that creatively uses heart shapes on every page. Hall colorfully creates twenty different animals one would find at the zoo, and poetically gives the reader one or two short lines about each animal. This book would be great to use during a poetry unit, with many simple examples of alliteration, similes, and rhyme. It could be used to model literary terms for High School ELL and elementary students. Of course, “Happy as a herd of hi...more
I love this combination of boldly colorful illustrations with cleverly done rhyming text. The animals in the illustrations are made almost entirely out of hearts of various sizes and colors that overlap. It is amazing how such a simple concept can create such adorable, cuddly-looking animals. The text may not be the most amazing thing ever written, but it made me laugh several times. The book had me at the "herd of hippos drinking apple juice."
I don't know that many children will actually get th...more
I don't know that many children will actually get th...more
Hundreds of hearts come together to shape some animals both familiar and exotic in this rhyming romp through the various phases of a child’s heart before they retire after a busy day (as busy as a zookeeper's even!).
My Heart is Like a Zoo (2010) by Michael Hall introduces children to a variety of new concepts beyond emotions and feelings. The varied palette for both animals and backgrounds can introduce colors as easily as the animals themselves can be used for a counting exercise. Hall uses hea...more
My Heart is Like a Zoo (2010) by Michael Hall introduces children to a variety of new concepts beyond emotions and feelings. The varied palette for both animals and backgrounds can introduce colors as easily as the animals themselves can be used for a counting exercise. Hall uses hea...more
Using zoo animals to rhyme with, this book identifies common emotions. In addition to rhymes, each animal is coupled with an illustration to get a better understanding of how they feel. Readers can relate to the angry face a bear might make or how it feels to leap in the air like a jumpy frog.
I would recommend this book for grades 2nd-3rd. Although this book may seem immature, I immediately thought that it could be a useful tool in getting through some major writer's block. At this age, student...more
I would recommend this book for grades 2nd-3rd. Although this book may seem immature, I immediately thought that it could be a useful tool in getting through some major writer's block. At this age, student...more
This is a book that can be used to teach similes as well as just enjoy. I loved the way the artist used all hearts to create animals. I immediately wanted to try creating some of them myself.
You would need to have paper in a variety of colors, or better use a computer and make the images filling in colors and layering the hearts.
Here is what Horn Book had to say:
Horn Book (Fall 2010)
"My heart is like a zoo-- / eager as a beaver, / steady as a yak, / hopeful as a hungry heron fishing for a sna...more
You would need to have paper in a variety of colors, or better use a computer and make the images filling in colors and layering the hearts.
Here is what Horn Book had to say:
Horn Book (Fall 2010)
"My heart is like a zoo-- / eager as a beaver, / steady as a yak, / hopeful as a hungry heron fishing for a sna...more
My Heart is Like a Zoo, by Michael Hall (2009)
Picture Book, 30 pages
Full of fascinating heart-shaped animals and cleaver similes, My Heart Is Like a Zoo is a whimsical cross between handcrafted Scandinavian hearts and colorful comparisons. Both parents and children will love examining these creatively constructed animals on the colorfully contrasted pages. Teachers may even use this as a great resource to teach basic adjectives or similes. As a possible jumping-point for penning their own simil...more
Picture Book, 30 pages
Full of fascinating heart-shaped animals and cleaver similes, My Heart Is Like a Zoo is a whimsical cross between handcrafted Scandinavian hearts and colorful comparisons. Both parents and children will love examining these creatively constructed animals on the colorfully contrasted pages. Teachers may even use this as a great resource to teach basic adjectives or similes. As a possible jumping-point for penning their own simil...more
The illustrations are lovely and large and bright. The narrative, however, is a bit awkward in places. The premise is that a child is listing all the attributes of his heart as they are represented by animals, and I don't understand why some of them were chosen over other possible alternatives. The book has already been returned to the library, but one of them I remember was something like "My heart is ... scared like an antelope" (totally paraphrasing). As an adult, I was like, What does that m...more
This book is great for children in preschool and up. Four years through seven years in my opinion would love this book best. It's a cute take on all the characteristics of the author's heart. This picture book is appealing because of it's colorful pictures of each animal made out of hearts and the emotions on each page for each animal. For example, the book contains emotions such as: brave as a lion, snappy as a crab, and thoughtful as a owl. The book is fast-paced and easy to read and for the c...more
This is a very cute book about zoo animals. All the animals are made of hearts and are very colorful. This book could be an introduction for a lesson on alliteration, rhyming, similes or even a simple Valentine's Day story. Because all the animals are made of hearts, students could count how many hearts can be found on one page or even the entire book.
Reading Level: Pre-K- 1st grade
Genre: Picture Book
Topic: Zoo Animals
Use: Read Aloud & Independent Reading
Literary Elements: Alliteration, rhy...more
Reading Level: Pre-K- 1st grade
Genre: Picture Book
Topic: Zoo Animals
Use: Read Aloud & Independent Reading
Literary Elements: Alliteration, rhy...more
My Favorite new book--wonderful read aloud, flowing fun language that really works, fabulous art, great design!. Wonderful story/craft tie ins!.
All the animals in this colorful and vibrant book, from the hungry heron to the silly seal are created from heart shapes. The book uses animals to express the different kinds of love we can feel, from thoughtful to brave.
Hall’s digital illustrations are precise, yet playful as he manipulates the simple heart shape into different animal forms. The humble heart shape is celebrated by creating brightly colored animals. The rhyming text is brief and full of adjectives and alliteration.
Full Review a...more
Hall’s digital illustrations are precise, yet playful as he manipulates the simple heart shape into different animal forms. The humble heart shape is celebrated by creating brightly colored animals. The rhyming text is brief and full of adjectives and alliteration.
Full Review a...more
I really love the idea and the illustrations in this book, but some of the actual simlies are pretty ridiculous, so for that, I can't give it more stars. The author describes his heart as being like many animals and cleverly illustrates each animal with heart shapes in vivid colors. This is great. But remember, we're describing the heart. Where "eager as a beaver" "steady as a yak" and "happy as a herd of hippos drinking apple juice" are qualities that are appropriate for a heart, "snappy as a c...more
Audience: Primary, kindergarten
Appeal: The images and colors in this book will capture any young child’s interest. My heart is as a Zoo is filled with colorful images of animals, all in the shape of a heart.
Application: I believe this book would be great to introduce young students in different types of animals, colors and shapes. I think it would be fun to discuss the different animals they noticed in the book and talk about the different characteristics each animal has. You could also discuss...more
Appeal: The images and colors in this book will capture any young child’s interest. My heart is as a Zoo is filled with colorful images of animals, all in the shape of a heart.
Application: I believe this book would be great to introduce young students in different types of animals, colors and shapes. I think it would be fun to discuss the different animals they noticed in the book and talk about the different characteristics each animal has. You could also discuss...more
Who could resist that cute lion on the cover!? Certainly not me!!! ;-) I very much enjoyed this sweet little book. The text is simple rhymes, saying all the feelings in one's heart that are like an animal i.e., "my heart is brave as a lion" and so on. The illustrations are the real fun, though, as each animal is made up (some entirely so) of hearts! The final illustration is just perfect and ties everything together beautifully. So creative, and very fun for Valentine's Day, too.
The illustrations in this book are amazing. It is incredible how intricate and detailed of pictures can be created just by combining hearts. This book can be used to introduce similies and focus on illustrations and show students how complex things can be made out of something simple. It would be a fun activity to give students a large pile of hearts or any other shape and see what they are able to create.
fabulous artwork. Vivid colors. All animals made out of hearts. I could totally see a craft/art lesson using this. I read this a few wks ago @ work, but I shared for nighttime with charlie today. He paid wonderful attention to it. ehe enjoyed the bright colors,the different animals, and when finished with the bk he turned it back to the beginning again.
definitely buying a cop of this for us to keep.
definitely buying a cop of this for us to keep.
Audience: ages 2 to 10 interested in art, language, or animals
Appeal: creative pictures using shapes and bold colors, similes help decode unknown words, and general applications
List: IRA Primary Non-fiction 2011
Good for teaching traits, similes, art, and language. Cute book and could teach animals. Lends itself to multiple disciplines. Try to use during week 1 of school this year!
Jun 13, 2012
Relyn
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
teachers, parents, kids
Recommended to Relyn by:
I love the author.
YES!! This is the second time Michael Hall has hit a homerun. This is a fantastic author/illustrator. If you are a parent or teacher, rush out and buy his books. They are FULL of inspiration and imagination.
Lesson Connection
This would be a great jumping off point for a class book. Especially if I used it the first week of school to introduce book making. Can't wait!
Lesson Connection
This would be a great jumping off point for a class book. Especially if I used it the first week of school to introduce book making. Can't wait!
A beautiful picture book about feelings, animals and the shape of the heart. I loved the concept and colors. I also liked how he threw in the feelings, “Eager as a beaver.” I would recommend it to any child and I can see art teachers using it as an introduction in using shapes to make other objects. By the way, there is a very clever book trailer for this book. Recommended.
Jan 29, 2010
Bookless00
added it
The 20 animals of this story are composed almost entirely of heart shapes in vibrant colors. A great Valentine's Day story for toddlers and preschoolers, but also excellent for talking about concepts like shapes, color, numbers (count how many heart shapes you see in each animal) and animal names. Also see Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin, and Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert.
The 2 best things about this book are the illustrations (and that's why I choose to read it) and the fact that there are animals in it. Michael Hall shares colorful "heart" created animals that are in the zoo-but who's zoo is it? I was hoping this book would inspire my PreSchool Class to create their own hca's but the art was more a heart collage which is just fine.
Each of the twenty colorful animals in this book is made of heart shapes. So, besides reading the book, another fun activity might be counting the heart shapes. A rhyming text accompanies the creative animal pictures.
"silly as a seal,
rugged as a moose,
happy as a herd of hippos
drinking apple juice."
A fun book, and all will smile when they come to the last page.
"silly as a seal,
rugged as a moose,
happy as a herd of hippos
drinking apple juice."
A fun book, and all will smile when they come to the last page.
A simple book with pictures of different animals made up of hearts. I would have the kids do an art project where they would use hearts that they cut out and made into an animal of their own design. Each page also has similes on it and would be a simple way to introduce similes. I would use this in a kindergarten through first grade classroom.
What a cute book--prefect for toddlers and preschoolers. My Heart is Like a Zoo explores different zoo animals--each one illustrated and made out of hearts (my particular favorite is the heron (his neck is made out of a folded-out heart). The colors and bright and attractive and the words simple and clear. Fun, rhyming animal exploration.
Audience: This book appeals to Pre-K through 1st grade students and teachers.
Appeal: This is a great book to discuss the animals, as well as emotions. It could also serve as a great journaling activity. I also think this book serves as a great extension for writing activities.
Awards: 2011 IRA Children's Book Award Winner
Appeal: This is a great book to discuss the animals, as well as emotions. It could also serve as a great journaling activity. I also think this book serves as a great extension for writing activities.
Awards: 2011 IRA Children's Book Award Winner
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Here's an example of a concept book that I think is great but kids think is boring. Unless you pair this with the actual hearts to give them a chance to re-create or try new combinations of the animals pictured, this is a bit of a flop. As far as the similes go, I like Quick as a Cricket by Don and Audrey Wood better.
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Oct 07, 2010 11:45am