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Wild About Us!: A Joyful Picture Book About Zoo Animals and Individuality for Children
Warty Warthog may have warts and tusks, but he likes himself that way! Join him as he celebrates all of his animal friends and the attributes that make each one unique. Whether it’s Crocodile's toothy grin or Kangaroo’s huge feet or Leopard’s spottiness, each animal is different. Wouldn’t it be dull if all the animals at the zoo—and all the people in the world—looked alike? A joyful picture-book celebration of everything that makes us individuals!
40 pages, Hardcover
First published April 7, 2015
1 person is currently reading
230 people want to read
About the author
Karen Beaumont
28 books81 followersKaren Beaumont is the New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning picture books. She lives in Scotts Valley, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
August 6, 2015
Oh my goodness...I loved this book so very much! Definitely a first day of school or community building read aloud choice. Illustrations are adorably fun and the storyline narrated by the warthog is self esteem building, promotes diversity in an accessible way, and a must read for a classroom!
August 12, 2015
What a fun one from Beaumont!
Great illustrations, wonderful rhythm, and an uplifting message. I love how it's a combo of animal identification and self-confidence wrapped into a Happy Burrito!
Great illustrations, wonderful rhythm, and an uplifting message. I love how it's a combo of animal identification and self-confidence wrapped into a Happy Burrito!
September 4, 2017
Great picture book to introduce the concept of diversity. Perfect read aloud for the beginning of the school year to set the tone that differences are respected and welcome.
May 28, 2015
It's never too early to reinforce a healthy body image in our children. Though most of this should be taught through proper affection and modeling through the parents, books can also serve as wonderful supplements to any life lesson. In this case, "Wild About Us!" is the perfect fit for young children.
In fun and simple rhyme, Karen Beaumont introduces us to Warty Warthog, who happens to be very proud of his appearance. As he puts it, "can't be who I'm not. I am who I am, and I've got what I've got." The other animals at the zoo share the same sentiment. No one seems to worry about whether their ears stick out or whether their nose is too long. Wrinkly skin isn't worrisome either, nor big feet . . . not even a hind-end that packs a bit of jiggle. They each appreciate their differences and accept how they've been made.
What a great lesson, and it is skillfully presented through just the right amount of humor in both text and illustration. Both my girls shared some giggles throughout the story, though its significance was not missed. As my seven-year-old reflected: "It's showing you that you can be yourself. You don't have to be like anyone else!"
The choice of zoo animals not only makes the page-turns fun to look at thanks to Janet Stevens, their practicality makes the lesson all the more convincing. It simply isn't practical for an elephant to look like a flamingo, and that can be celebrated. As the story ends:
"We're glad we're all different!
It would be such a shame
If you came to the zoo . . .
and we all looked the same!"
So true! A 5-Star book for two to 10-year-olds!
In fun and simple rhyme, Karen Beaumont introduces us to Warty Warthog, who happens to be very proud of his appearance. As he puts it, "can't be who I'm not. I am who I am, and I've got what I've got." The other animals at the zoo share the same sentiment. No one seems to worry about whether their ears stick out or whether their nose is too long. Wrinkly skin isn't worrisome either, nor big feet . . . not even a hind-end that packs a bit of jiggle. They each appreciate their differences and accept how they've been made.
What a great lesson, and it is skillfully presented through just the right amount of humor in both text and illustration. Both my girls shared some giggles throughout the story, though its significance was not missed. As my seven-year-old reflected: "It's showing you that you can be yourself. You don't have to be like anyone else!"
The choice of zoo animals not only makes the page-turns fun to look at thanks to Janet Stevens, their practicality makes the lesson all the more convincing. It simply isn't practical for an elephant to look like a flamingo, and that can be celebrated. As the story ends:
"We're glad we're all different!
It would be such a shame
If you came to the zoo . . .
and we all looked the same!"
So true! A 5-Star book for two to 10-year-olds!
June 10, 2015
1) “Raise your hand if you went to the zoo this summer and saw lots of different animals. Did you see the plump polar bears and the snoozing drooling brown bears? When I went to the zoo this summer, my favorite animal to watch was the crazy, fuzzy monkey that wildly swung around their habitat. Based on the title Wild About Us! what do you think this book will be about? [Student responses]. Let’s read to find out if your predictions are right. While I read, pay close attention to the words that describe the animals.”
2) For my openings moves in this book, I chose to start with raising interest in the topic/ inviting for personal connections by getting them to think back to a fun adventure, visiting the zoo. I also make a personal connections myself by telling students of the last time I went to the zoo and which animal I liked best. Lastly, I asked my students to make predictions about the title because it doesn’t give away the type of detail that is present in the book as it describes the animals.
3) I chose this text as the final book in my text set because it had animals like Inside Butterflies did. It also had green animals (the crocodile) in which we could reference back to the book Green and identify what type of green describes the crocodile. This book ultimately does a good job of showing students fun and creative ways to describe animals with detail words. I also chose this book because it’s written from the perspective of the warthog even though many animals are represented in the book. I thought it was a fun and new way to present the idea of perspective to my students, and it could later lend itself to a lesson on perspective.
2) For my openings moves in this book, I chose to start with raising interest in the topic/ inviting for personal connections by getting them to think back to a fun adventure, visiting the zoo. I also make a personal connections myself by telling students of the last time I went to the zoo and which animal I liked best. Lastly, I asked my students to make predictions about the title because it doesn’t give away the type of detail that is present in the book as it describes the animals.
3) I chose this text as the final book in my text set because it had animals like Inside Butterflies did. It also had green animals (the crocodile) in which we could reference back to the book Green and identify what type of green describes the crocodile. This book ultimately does a good job of showing students fun and creative ways to describe animals with detail words. I also chose this book because it’s written from the perspective of the warthog even though many animals are represented in the book. I thought it was a fun and new way to present the idea of perspective to my students, and it could later lend itself to a lesson on perspective.
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June 11, 20151. "Imagine a classroom where all of the students look and sound exactly alike. No one has unique talents, no one has different personalities, and everyone is identical to one another. Would this be a very fun classroom to be apart of? Would you feel very special in this classroom? (student responses) Being different from one another makes us special in our own ways. Sometimes we have things we like about ourselves and sometimes we have things we would like to change about ourselves too. A little fact about Ms. Braun that many people don't notice is that I have REALLY big feet. This used to always bother me when I was younger, but is this something that should make me sad? Is this something that I can control or change? Should someone stop being my friend because I have really big feet? (student responses) No! Today we are going to read a book called Wild About Us and I want you to pay close attention to the special qualities that each animal has, and how many of them have the exact same ones?
2. The opening moves I used for Wild About Us were inviting personal connections by asking students to imagine a different kind of classroom, sharing a personal connection that I had to the text- relating my big feet as a difference, and raising questions by addressing the key points that the book will focus on- it is okay to be different!
3. This book was my favorite of the 4 that I chose because it really exemplifies diversity! At the end of the book, the animals talk about how boring the zoo would be for people to come to if all of the animals were exactly the same. This is a great connection to accepting, welcoming, and sharing differences in the classroom!
2. The opening moves I used for Wild About Us were inviting personal connections by asking students to imagine a different kind of classroom, sharing a personal connection that I had to the text- relating my big feet as a difference, and raising questions by addressing the key points that the book will focus on- it is okay to be different!
3. This book was my favorite of the 4 that I chose because it really exemplifies diversity! At the end of the book, the animals talk about how boring the zoo would be for people to come to if all of the animals were exactly the same. This is a great connection to accepting, welcoming, and sharing differences in the classroom!
April 22, 2015
Hardly a day goes by without my wishing for the same skills, even for a few minutes, of Doctor Dolittle. We know the sounds animals make are a form of communication. What exactly is it they are saying?
If you are fortunate to share your life with one of them, after a time, you can read their expressions and body posture and understand their voices, to a degree. (Xena actually snorts now when she's disgusted with a decision I've made regarding her.) Author Karen Beaumont and illustrator Janet Stevens (The Little Red Pen, HMH Books for Young Readers, April 18, 2011) take us to an animal gathering in their new title. Wild About Us! (HMH Books for Young Readers, April 7, 2015) invites readers on a jaunty journey loaded with lively laughter.
My full recommendation: http://librariansquest.blogspot.com/2...
If you are fortunate to share your life with one of them, after a time, you can read their expressions and body posture and understand their voices, to a degree. (Xena actually snorts now when she's disgusted with a decision I've made regarding her.) Author Karen Beaumont and illustrator Janet Stevens (The Little Red Pen, HMH Books for Young Readers, April 18, 2011) take us to an animal gathering in their new title. Wild About Us! (HMH Books for Young Readers, April 7, 2015) invites readers on a jaunty journey loaded with lively laughter.
My full recommendation: http://librariansquest.blogspot.com/2...
August 15, 2015
This book uses animals to get a very important point across to children. We are all different and it would be very boring if we all looked the same. Using animals is very clever since children love animals and know and see how different they all are. It drives home the point so well about how it is ok for us to be different and imperfect as well.
April 24, 2015
3.5 stars
April 25, 2015
Absolutely loved this book and the message it gives to readers. My mind is spinning with the possibilities of using it at the beginning of the school year.
October 23, 2015
Love this book's poetry to show animals accepting themselves and loving their differences.
August 29, 2016
This is a fantastic book about accepting who we are and valuing differences.
August 21, 2019
This is definitely a book for very young children. I do like the fun art and the body acceptance and diversity message. The rhyming is well done. It could be positively used along with some animal dances, songs, or games.
That said, I am going to be the odd one out here. But there are a lot of lessons in here to tie-in if you bring this book to older kids.
The word Wild in the title - here's a usage lesson in itself. Are these animals wild, or contained... no they are excited.
What I am uncomfortable with - I know some kids are still doing to laugh at some of the animals, because the art makes them funny. This conflicts to some extent with the message that having a wiggly bottom is fine, for example. Maybe I've just been around the wrong kids. I do think a teacher needs to present the message of acceptance or review it after the book, even ask kids if they felt anything they wanted to discuss or had questions. See if they bring up any feelings of confusion or bad feelings from being laughed at or compared to some animal.
Also, very uncomfortable with the idea these animals are in the zoo. I know this is where most little kids see them together... and why so many animals are together when some would not be living in the same region. Again - if the book is used with any kids a little older, it is a good tie-in to bring in for nature or geography studies talk about why these animals even know each other, do animals even think about such things. But the fact that they are taken from the wild and put in cages - or being raised here - some to try and bring back endangered species - is a many layered topic for some. Do animals belong in zoos? What are the benefits? Losses to them or us? Do they really get to interact with these other animals in zoos? They are indeed not exactly tamed and not domestic, yet not exactly wild. Many or most would not be able to go out and survive in the wild after being held in zoos.
So - funny and cute book for the youngest kids to simply recognize animals, hear rhymes, laugh, and get some very basic message told to them we are all happy the way we are. I doubt this will carry over to kids feelings changing a lot if they have already been teased. Studies show comparisons to animal diversity is not the same as to human experience... and this book does not have any other emotions or learning of a character working through their feelings like a human would... no changes occur. It is simply silliness and telling - sort of like a baseline of rules sharing - "We like everyone here."
So if your young children have no prior experiences, a first day of pre-K or K book to help set expectations, with an additional statement by the teacher.
If you have older students, beware them seeing through this if you don't intend to quarry through the layers with them, I'd not share this one.
That said, I am going to be the odd one out here. But there are a lot of lessons in here to tie-in if you bring this book to older kids.
The word Wild in the title - here's a usage lesson in itself. Are these animals wild, or contained... no they are excited.
What I am uncomfortable with - I know some kids are still doing to laugh at some of the animals, because the art makes them funny. This conflicts to some extent with the message that having a wiggly bottom is fine, for example. Maybe I've just been around the wrong kids. I do think a teacher needs to present the message of acceptance or review it after the book, even ask kids if they felt anything they wanted to discuss or had questions. See if they bring up any feelings of confusion or bad feelings from being laughed at or compared to some animal.
Also, very uncomfortable with the idea these animals are in the zoo. I know this is where most little kids see them together... and why so many animals are together when some would not be living in the same region. Again - if the book is used with any kids a little older, it is a good tie-in to bring in for nature or geography studies talk about why these animals even know each other, do animals even think about such things. But the fact that they are taken from the wild and put in cages - or being raised here - some to try and bring back endangered species - is a many layered topic for some. Do animals belong in zoos? What are the benefits? Losses to them or us? Do they really get to interact with these other animals in zoos? They are indeed not exactly tamed and not domestic, yet not exactly wild. Many or most would not be able to go out and survive in the wild after being held in zoos.
So - funny and cute book for the youngest kids to simply recognize animals, hear rhymes, laugh, and get some very basic message told to them we are all happy the way we are. I doubt this will carry over to kids feelings changing a lot if they have already been teased. Studies show comparisons to animal diversity is not the same as to human experience... and this book does not have any other emotions or learning of a character working through their feelings like a human would... no changes occur. It is simply silliness and telling - sort of like a baseline of rules sharing - "We like everyone here."
So if your young children have no prior experiences, a first day of pre-K or K book to help set expectations, with an additional statement by the teacher.
If you have older students, beware them seeing through this if you don't intend to quarry through the layers with them, I'd not share this one.
February 25, 2018
(Picture Book)
"Wild About Us" by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Janet Stevens (2015) is a fun book about animals that introduces or reinforces to preschoolers the issues of acceptance and positive body image. The animals all love themselves, such as "Elephant's confident nothing is wrong. He knows that his nose is supposed to be long." The animal illustrations are large and colorful, some taking up two pages or even requiring the book to be turned on its side, as with the giraffe illustration. Wording is minimal and very rhythmic. Movement can be encouraged, asking kiddos to express themselves as with crocodile's toothy grin or hippo's wiggly behind. I love how this book includes a message of acceptance in a fun way that allows our Pre-K readers to engage creatively through movement.
"Wild About Us" by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Janet Stevens (2015) is a fun book about animals that introduces or reinforces to preschoolers the issues of acceptance and positive body image. The animals all love themselves, such as "Elephant's confident nothing is wrong. He knows that his nose is supposed to be long." The animal illustrations are large and colorful, some taking up two pages or even requiring the book to be turned on its side, as with the giraffe illustration. Wording is minimal and very rhythmic. Movement can be encouraged, asking kiddos to express themselves as with crocodile's toothy grin or hippo's wiggly behind. I love how this book includes a message of acceptance in a fun way that allows our Pre-K readers to engage creatively through movement.
March 24, 2019
The story “Wild About Us” provides young readers an opportunity to use illustrations to help them identify and bring insight of the importance being accepting of others. This story addresses the fact it's the uniqueness of each characters and/or people in our world that makes the story and/or life interesting. In addition, this story could be a useful resource for Early Childhood and/or Elementary Education teachers to use to teach and/or reinforce how imperative it is for every one of them to develop a high level of self-esteem, which enables them to embrace and accept every aspect of themselves. After reading this story, early readers should take possess an understanding that they are perfect just the way they are. In addition, this story can be used as a resource to combat teasing and/or bullying due to differences in physical features, ethnicity, gender, ability level, etc.
December 13, 2019
It's official. My daughter loves Karen Beaumont. These are quick fun reads that keep her engaged. She loved this one and loved the warthog! It was just as much fun as her other books. Loved the rhythm while reading this. Also what a great message of self confidence! I didn't love the artwork as much as I loved doggone dogs but i think it's cause of the white background, but my kids had no cares.
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February 6, 2020This book is about animals in the zoo and how they are all different. Each one has something unique about them and they love it because that is how they are made.
I think this book does a great job of explaining how we are all different and that it is okay. It was very cute and warming.
I could use this book to teach the kids in the class that we are all made to be different and that it is completely okay. If we were all the same, that would be boring.
I think this book does a great job of explaining how we are all different and that it is okay. It was very cute and warming.
I could use this book to teach the kids in the class that we are all made to be different and that it is completely okay. If we were all the same, that would be boring.
December 2, 2022
A quick, rhyming exploration of different animals and how they are different and appreciate those differences.
A good reminder to be comfy in yourself, but I also like that it doesn't "justify" the differences (like if it said giraffe was so tall so she could reach things for others). Nope, they have quirky differences that they just have and like because it's a part of them.
No content issues.
August 1, 2023
Let's celebrate what makes each of us unique.
That's the mission of this feelgood storybook. What happens in this picture book? Animals describe their high self-esteem.
If you're a believer in coaching children to build up their self-esteem, this could become your favorite book of all time. Especially since the illustrations by Janet Stevens are a most delightful combo of realistic and also out of this world.
FIVE STARS.
That's the mission of this feelgood storybook. What happens in this picture book? Animals describe their high self-esteem.
If you're a believer in coaching children to build up their self-esteem, this could become your favorite book of all time. Especially since the illustrations by Janet Stevens are a most delightful combo of realistic and also out of this world.
FIVE STARS.
February 10, 2018
All the animals at the zoo are happy that they had different features because if you went to the zoo and everyone looked the same wouldn't that just be lame?
This is a good book for a unit on rhyming words.
This is a good book for a unit on animals.
This is also a good book for a unit on body positivity.
This is a good book for a unit on rhyming words.
This is a good book for a unit on animals.
This is also a good book for a unit on body positivity.
January 14, 2020
I really enjoyed this book! On the surface, it talks about different animals and how each one looks and behaves differently. The deeper message, however, resonated more deeply with me. Each person should be celebrated and appreciated for exactly who they are. We don't all have to be the same to be accepted. I loved the message and I will happily use this book for story time.
November 22, 2017
A wonderful take on the things that make each animal in the zoo unique. Emphasis is placed on animals' acceptance of themselves. Besides, you wouldn't want to go to the zoo and everyone look the same, yes?
February 21, 2018
Animals at the zoo are happy they are all different, and they like themselves just the way they are. This is a lovely rhyming story to subtly let readers know we are all the way we're meant to be. Beautifully illustrated.
October 14, 2021
I think this book is a great way to celebrate differences in the classroom. Each animal identifies this difference and talks about why they love it. The ending of the book reminds us as readers that it is important to be different because if we were the same life would not be as fun.
October 21, 2025
overall, okay. kids mostly got the message, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was just giving kids good animal comparisons to bully others with.
Also, animals being different from evolutionary adaptations is not quite comparable to humans having different shaped bodies.
Also, animals being different from evolutionary adaptations is not quite comparable to humans having different shaped bodies.
February 7, 2017
Very nice book about animals all liking something special about them and being accepting of each other. Great message for students and was able to do lessons to connect with science too!
May 15, 2017
A book that can be used to help kids see that everyone is different and unique- just like animals have their own qualities and characteristics.
~Longer review to come.
~Longer review to come.
July 13, 2017
Very cute book on accepting everyone as they are.
July 19, 2017
Oh my...I loved this book! Good lesson about everyone being unique and special in their own way! What a great read-aloud for the first days of school/community building!
August 24, 2017
Fantastic message about acceptance and self-love. I'm excited to share this with students at the beginning of the year.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews