'Twas the day before zoo day

Twas the day before Zoo Day, when all round the park, / the creatures felt restless and wished it were dark. In this playful take on the popular Christmas verse, the zoo animals and their keepers prepare for a schoolkids' visit. On each double-page spread, a nonsense rhyme and a bright, colorful, comic illustration pictures the excitement as the animals get ready for their visitors. Two zookeepers feed their charges and encourage them all to behave: The trainers begged llamas to please be polite / Don't go round spitting. It's just not all right. Along with the nonsense and the action, there are animal facts, and back matter includes additional information for adults and kids to talk about together.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2008 Booklist

PreS-Gr 2-The zookeepers are busy getting ready for Zoo Day. They are cleaning cages and bathing and feeding the animals. Some of the creatures, like recalcitrant children, are ill-behaved. The llamas are spitting, the giraffes are slurping. "While out in the dirt, naughty elephants rolled,/not listening at all to what they'd been told./They frolicked in mud to cool down from the sun./Their trunks became sprinklers and soaked everyone." Finally, the sun goes down and the workers go home. The next morning, the animals and their babies prepare themselves for the crowds of children arriving on yellow buses. This silly, slight story ends abruptly with the zookeepers standing at the gates while the children enter the zoo. Large color cartoon illustrations support the text. Back matter has a fill-in matching activity, some "animal fun facts," and a writing exercise about zookeepers. A secondary purchase at best.-Linda Staskus, Parma Regional Library, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.