The Zoo's Grand Opening: An ABC and Counting Book

K-Gr 2—Readers are asked to use their imaginations as an alphabetical array of animals arrives from around the world to reside in a new zoo. The book opens with an empty canvas and the animals (one to 26) are added until the zoo is full and ready for its grand opening. Each creature is described in a four-line stanza as the zookeeper introduces the new inhabitants. Some choices are unusual at best, such as an "Xinusil martian" from the moon, a mosquito, and a skunk—hardly zoo animals. The flat, stylized cartoon illustrations are anatomically correct but not as appealing as in other zoo books. A first-person style of narration is used throughout. Unfortunately, the zookeeper and his assistant add only minimal humor. There are many colorful books about the zoo available. While certainly playful, this title is far from grand.—Janene Corbin, Rosebank Elementary School, Nashville, TN