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... read full description
reviews
Oct 06, 2010
N_stefanie
rated it: 
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 h
More...
Apr 07, 2010
Treasa
rated it: 
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 childre More...
I don't know that many childre More...
Apr 09, 2010
Emma
rated it:
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. H 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. H More...
Feb 04, 2011
Judy
rated it: 
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, / ho 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, / ho More...
Jan 26, 2011
akibird
rated it:
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 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 More...
Jan 27, 2010
Heidi
rated it:
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 & Ind More...
Reading Level: Pre-K- 1st grade
Genre: Picture Book
Topic: Zoo Animals
Use: Read Aloud & Ind More...
Jan 04, 2012
Marissa
rated it:
This is another complex work that is masquerading as a cutesy book using animals as its primary attraction. A great many children love happy zoo animals, but this familiar cast of characters is presenting the scope of what emotion can really be like in a way that will draw in the average parent and child alike. It causes the reader to connect the adjectives assigned to the animals to their owners, and think about why, for example, we call a fox "crafty". This can extend to the idea of
More...
Jan 22, 2010
Gwen the Librarian
rated it: 
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 appro
More...
Jan 12, 2011
Kathryn
rated it:
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
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 04, 2011
Stephanie
rated it:
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.
Mar 20, 2010
Kristin
rated it:
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.
Mar 21, 2011
Amy
rated it:
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
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.
Oct 10, 2011
Candice
rated it:
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.
Apr 08, 2010
Jess
rated it:
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.
Aug 04, 2010
Karen
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 23, 2011
Joy
rated it:
Gorgeous animal book, in which all the animals are created out of heart shapes. The text is short but uses enough interesting words to help build vocabulary (words like "portly"), and the colorful illustrations with their strong shapes are a joy. Could be used for a lot of different storytime themes: animals, shapes, zoo, Valentine's Day, etc.
Feb 09, 2011
Kim
rated it:
I love this book. The only reason I held off on the full 5 stars is because the similes are a bit bizarre at times. Still, great vocabulary, kids love the hearts and figuring out the animals are, pictures are bright and fun, and since Valentine's Day books suck, this one is a great substitute.
Jun 30, 2010
Marcie
rated it:
This would be fun for Valentine's day and could be great with an art lesson making pictures with a variety of different heart shapes. Minnesota author's first book for children shows off his work as a graphic designer. Greenwillow has an incredible trailer at http://www.myheartislikeazoo.com/.
Feb 01, 2012
Katie
rated it:
Hall arranges the heart shape in order to create all sorts of different animals & describes their moods. Excellent rhyme scheme & a great way to introduce different emotions & feelings to young children. You can even omit pages in order to shorten the book for a young toddler audience. Great for Valentine's, shapes, animals.
Nov 17, 2010
Kristen
rated it:
My toddler loves this book! The pictures are vibrant and creative. She picks this book out of the pile of books almost every night to read. Hopefully we'll be able to keep renewing it from the library for awhile, or we'll have one heartbroken girl (no pun intended!).
Apr 23, 2010
Westerville
rated it:
Becky says, "What a cool book! All the animals are made of heart shapes (over 300 hearts in all). This invites lots of counting, observation, and shape recognition. It also make for a great design study in simplicity, layering, and negative shapes. Oh, and similes."
Apr 21, 2010
Becky
rated it:
What a cool book! All the animals are made of heart shapes (over 300 hearts in all). This invites lots of counting, observation, and shape recognition. It also make for a great design study in simplicity, layering, and negative shapes. Oh, and similes.
Apr 15, 2011
Ishta
rated it:
This was really clever - a series of pictures of different animals, all made with hearts of different sizes and colors arranged in different ways. The rhymes worked, AND as an unexpected bonus, it gave my kids and me some neat craft ideas!
Oct 30, 2010
Ayana Mishelle
rated it:
I loved loved loved this book. Great for alliteration, counting, colors and shapes, great for kindergarten- 1st grade. this book is also good for discussing feeling and emotions a great book for independent reading and read-a louds .
Mar 23, 2010
Yudith Fabiola
rated it:
Very nice book with full colour pages and pictures. The amazing one of this book is all the animals picture in this book made of heart shapes.
Very useful books for nursery and kindergarten children.
Sadly, this book is not mine...
Very useful books for nursery and kindergarten children.
Sadly, this book is not mine...
Jul 18, 2011
Laura
rated it:
A colorful, rhyming book about animals at the zoo. Each animal is created from hearts arranged in clever and charming ways. I really enjoyed the rhythm and rhyme of this simple story. Recommended for the preschool set.
Mar 02, 2011
Tdavis
rated it:
I adore this book! The rhyming text matches the animals, which are all made out the shape of a heart. Cute!
Early Literacy Skills:
Phonological Awareness
Print Motivation
Vocabulary
Early Literacy Skills:
Phonological Awareness
Print Motivation
Vocabulary
Feb 09, 2010
April (CSI:Librarian)
rated it:
Lovely and lively look at the parallels between a child's heart and her/his favorite animals. All the animals are heart-shaped as well making it a great pick for a Valentine's Day storytime, which is what I used it for.
Feb 05, 2010
Roxanne Hsu
rated it:
I put this on my "poetry" shelf as well, since it IS an illustrated poem. The colors, shapes, and layout all work beautifully together with the light and bouncy text. Really enjoyed reading/looking at this one :)
