Day 203: My Heart Is Like a Zoo

My son picked this book up off the "New Arrivals" shelf at our last library visit, excitedly showed it to me, then immediately ran over to a chair to sit down and read it.  Needless to say, we checked it out and brought it home, and have read it many times since then.  Michael Hall's illustrations are colorful, creative, and engaging, and his short, well-rhyming text makes this book a wonderful one to read with your little one.

As you can probably guess from the cover illustration, the pictures of zoo animals in this book are made up almost exclusively of heart shapes.  The bold, simple design is very clever, and the text includes some great adjectives, as well.

My heart is like a zoo --

Eager as a beaver, 

Steady as a yak,

Hopeful as a hungry heron fishing for a snack...

See how cute these are?

My son, 5, loves the different animals and counting all of the heart shapes he can find within their designs, while my daughter, 2 1/2, loves the animals and pointing to the hearts, too.  My son also loves being able to read it to my daughter himself, which is always cute to see.  The bold, colorful designs and rhyming text would make this a great book to read with babies, as well.  It's currently only available in hardcover from what I can tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if a board book version will be in the works sometime in the future.

I especially love the way this book inspires creativity.  After reading it for the first time, my son said, "We should make our own animals out of hearts!"  He was so excited to create his own creatures using shapes once we got home, and couldn't wait to get started on a peregrine falcon picture.  He told me which animals he wanted to make, and then we brainstormed together about what colors to use and what size hearts we might need.  I just loved watching his creative little mind work!  I include a few pictures of his creations below.

Whether you're a teacher looking for a great art-inspiring book to share with your class or a parent looking for a fun, easy story-themed craft to do with your child, My Heart Is Like a Zoo is the perfect book.  We hope you love it as much as we do!

My son's favorite animal, the peregrine falcon

A butterfly

Crocodile

Poison Dart Frog (inspired by the frog in the book)

Yeti Crab, inspired by Wild Kratts (our favorite show)

 * the red dots on the claws are the bacteria it collects and eats - fascinating!

Day 52: Goodnight Gorilla

While we're on the topic of great zoo books, I thought now would be a good time to feature one of our other favorites, Goodnight Gorilla.  It's not strictly a wordless picture book, but aside from the zookeeper saying "Goodnight" to his animal friends, it is up to the reader to tell the rest of the story.  The pictures, of course, do the job all on their own -- and an amazing one, at that -- but I always love seeing what my son thinks the characters are saying, from the sneaky gorilla who steals the zookeeper's keys to the zookeeper's wife who wakes to find her bedroom full of animals.  Each time we read it, we find different details in the pictures that we love, too:  the toys in the animals' cages, the photos on the wall, the mouse carrying the gorilla's banana.  And of course, we just love the silly ending.  For whatever reason, it took me a while to warm up to the idea of wordless picture books, but I love them now.  I think it just required a conscious shift in my reading perspective from that of an adult to that of a parent.  As adult readers, I think it's easy to forget that our children aren't focused on the words like we are; they are busy studying the pictures.  That's what makes a book like this one so fun.   See what your child notices in the illustrations, and better yet, have her tell you the story.  Chances are, she'll find things you never noticed on your own.

Day 51: A Sick Day for Amos McGee

Philip and Erin Stead have created a beautiful masterpiece in A Sick Day for Amos McGee.  We adore this story about a sweet old zookeeper and his beloved animals and love the fabulous illustrations even more.  Amos McGee is the city zookeeper.  He gets up every morning, puts on a fresh pressed uniform, and rides the number five bus to the zoo.  Although he has a lot to do when he gets there, he always makes time to visit his good friends.  He plays chess with the elephant, runs races with the tortoise (who always wins), sits quietly with the shy penguin, lends a handkerchief to the sniffly rhinoceros, and reads stories to the owl (who is afraid of the dark) at sunset.  Then he returns home to rest before another busy day ahead.  When Amos wakes up sick one day and is unable to go to work, he receives a pleasant surprise:  his animal friends come to return the favor and take care of him!  It's a wonderful tale of friendship that has some of the most expressive and unique illustrations I have seen.  In fact, when I went to save the image from Barnes and Noble's website, I saw that it was the 2011 Caldecott winner -- deservedly so!  A big congratulations to artist Erin Stead, whose woodblock print and pencil drawings are simply incredible and tell the story in and of themselves; a sign of a truly great picture book, in my opinion.  In fact, my favorite pages are the only two in the book that have no words at all, with the animals waiting for and then riding on the city bus.  If you haven't yet discovered this wonderful story, look for it the next time you go to the library.  It is bound to be a classic in our house.