Believing the animals at the zoo to be unhappy in their cages, Lulu sneaks all the animals into her house but has trouble making room, a situation that prompts her to devise a creative solution.
Lulu goes to the zoo and she sees that the animals in the zoo are not happy and realizes that animals should not be kept in the zoos . She takes them to her place. When she is found out, she returns the animals but still every now and then she sneaks them to her place for a midnight snack.
I loved the rhyming and I read this in a sing-song voice. I also liked the pictures. But I do have to say that not all zoos mistreat their animals.
Love this book. I borrowed it from the library but will be going out to buy a copy to have. I am a daycare provider and will be reading this to the daycare kids regularly. I was/am Lulu. Never liked to see animals in cages. I love books for children that have a real message.
lately i have been looking up kiddie read and ones that will make my heart happy, make myself smile and remember childhood great times. i want kids to have the chance to read book that are growing their minds ... makes them smile and be happy. finding creativity in the smallest of things. please read this book. such great illustrations. so fun!!
Oh How I really wanted to like this book. The pictures are cute, but the story has an agenda and I hate that in a children's book.
The agenda you may ask? Is that zoos are bad. That animals in zoos are treated cruelly, that they want to be free in the wild.
In some cases that is true, but a lot of zoo animals are rescues and can't live in the wild, or are injured and are rehabilitated or orphans and their mother won't take care of them... Yes, there are some abuses at zoos but they aren't all bad. They bring animals to parts of the world that people wouldn't normally see. I saw an elephant at the zoo, I have seen monkey's at the zoo. I can't afford to go to Africa, but I can afford to go to the zoo.
So Lulu attempted to help make all the zoo animals free is a sweet 4 year old thought processes but very naive and absurd. The thought that animals can run free in Lululand, is a great idea, but not practical. (Hate me later but they are just animals.....I don't think they care where they live as long as they are treated well, feed and have a nice place to sleep...doubt a penguin would know what a 'real waterfall' is as opposed to the nifty one the zoo has built in the penguin center. Have I ranted enough... I don't know!
The writing was good, but because of the agenda I cannot in good conscience give this book a high rating! (PS our library has 3...count them 1-2-3 copies of this book. WHY??? Because there are not that many "E" authors in my library???
Parents who dislike the free pass that zoos are consistently given in children's lit will want to take a gander at this one. Lulu visits her local zoo, which is of the old Victorian style with iron bars and cell-like cages.
When Lulu went to the zoo, she was sad for the giraffes and the penguins too. The tigers were crying really big tears and the life had gone out of the llamas' ears.
Lulu decides to bring all of the animals home with her--with predictable and chaotic results! Lulu gets together with the zookeepers and together they develop a new type of home for the animals--an open air park with plenty of room to roam.
What we really have here is a tale of the animal welfare overhauls that started to occur in Western zoos in the 1970s and 80s. Because enough people were "sad for the giraffes and the penguins too," changes were made. And so it will go with future improvements to zoos.
Here's how this book starts out: "When Lulu went to the zoo, she was sad for the giraffes and the penguins too. The tigers were crying really big tears and the life had gone out of the llamas' ears." Wow, what a downer! I didn't want to read this at storytime out of fear that the kids would start crying.
We have a short discussion and sharing in between. She said she wants to wear purple like Lulu. She keeps saying that she wants to go to Lulu's house to see all the animals. She even asks me and her dad to wear our shoes to go to Lulu's house. A fun book with lovely illustration to read to children! :)
The grownup in me, the practical NO-way-is-this-gonna-work!, where are this kid's parents?!, side kept getting in the way the whole time I was reading this to Madam. *sigh*
I would have given it a higher rating if it had ended with two plus two-year old Lulu convincing the zookeepers to release the sad, cooped-up animals (even if that would be implausible). The images were very sweet, though, and the writing was also very good.