Reviews (4)

Zoo Captive writes quite a "tail"
If you love animals, let alone zoos, you'll love this humorousbehind the scenes view of the world famous San Diego Zoo. Author Bill Seaton, former SD Zoo public relations professional, recounts many "tails" that anyone will enjoy. It is truly a fun and easy read.

Very funny,but educational as well
This is a wonderfully funny book. Bill Seaton has two qualities a good humor writer needs: he is not afraid to make himself the butt of the humor, and he's a bit zany himself. But he writes clearly and well, and knows how to tell a good story -- there are dozens in this book. But the book is very informative on the world of animal and you will find many interesting facts you didn't know -- such as why they bleach the polar bear'shair. An ideal book for children -- of all ages.

San Diego Zoo Stand-Up Comedian
Bill Seaton's collection of antics and mishaps during his tenure at the San Diego Zoo is good enough for a stand-up comedy routine!The chapters are entertaining and brief, offering an amusing -- and informative -- alternative to magazine reading during doctors' visits, airline flights, etc.Having rubbed shoulders with Joan Embry, Jack Hanna, Johnny Carson, Phyllis Diller and other stars (along with chimps, snakes,sea lions et al), he provides a hilarious behind-the-scenes view of what makes a world-famous zoo tick. As Tony the Tiger would say, "It's G-RRRR-EAT!" ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - Zoos    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography & Autobiography - General    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Children's Books/Young Adult Biography    6. Historical - General   

Reviews (4)

loving, soothing book--our standard gift for newborn-2 years
The alliteration in this book is captivating.It's a beautiful and soothing read and always ends with a warm hug with our children.It is a great nighttime book before bed.My 2 year old and 5 year old love it. We keep a stack at home as it has become our standard gift to newborns and up to age two.We also live in San Francisco, which makes it all the more fun to read and gift!

Great book
We checked this book out at the library and my kids (2 and 3)fell in love with it.We read it every night.It's a wonderful story of a day with two different families who go to the zoo.I had to come to amazon to buy it.

Very cute
My husband bought this book for me because we're adopting a baby soon.We love that it incorporates both human and animal parent and baby relationships through a visit to the zoo.It's mostly mother-focused, but the father does make a nice appearance at the end.We also appreciated the ethnic diversity in the book, especially since the child we're adopting will be darker-skinned than we are.Overall a lovely little book! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - Zoos    2. Babies    3. Bedtime & Dreams    4. Children's Books/Baby-Preschool    5. Children: Babies & Toddlers    6. Fiction    7. Health & Daily Living - Daily Activities    8. Infants    9. Juvenile Fiction    10. Preschool Picture Story Books    11. Stories in rhyme    12. Zoos    13. Juvenile Fiction / Family / General   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Zoos    2. Children's Baby - Nature    3. Spanish: Babies & Toddlers   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Zoos    2. Children's Baby - Language Arts    3. Children: Preschool    4. Concepts - Alphabet    5. General    6. Juvenile Fiction   

Reviews (1)

Wonderful book for younger kids too!
My 3 year old son found this book one day while waiting the the pediatricians office.He loved it so much I read it to him 3 times before the doctor came in.The language in it was above his level in most casesbut the pictures just enthralled him.I will be ordering it for him! :) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American poetry    2. Animals    3. Animals - Zoos    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    5. Children's poetry, American    6. Children: Grades 2-3    7. Juvenile Easy Readers    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Juvenile Zoological Sciences    10. Juvenile poetry    11. Poetry   

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Animals - General    3. Animals - Zoos    4. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    5. Children: Kindergarten    6. Food    7. Juvenile Nonfiction    8. Juvenile literature    9. Readers - Beginner    10. Readers - Intermediate    11. Juvenile Nonfiction / Readers / Beginner   

Reviews (14)

Cute Book!
I was such a big fan of Silverstein when I was a kid.Now my girlfriend's daughter gets to hear me read his works to her.This book in particular is so cute.I think I might like it more than she does but she just turned 2 so time will tell how much she likes it.

A Giraffe and a Half
Silly book.My one year old loves it because it is repetative.Pictures are hilarious.

Keeps Kids Attention
As always Shel Silverstein's books amuse and keep my daughter's attention. I enjoyed them as a child and now my child enjoys them. A giraffe and a half is wonderfully silly and keeps you smiling page after page. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - General    2. Animals - Zoos    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children's poetry, American    5. Children: Grades 1-2    6. Classics    7. Giraffes    8. Humorous Stories    9. Juvenile Fiction    10. Juvenile poetry    11. Poetry    12. Animal stories    13. Juvenile Fiction / Humorous Stories   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Zoos    2. Children's 4-8 - Fiction - General    3. Children: Babies & Toddlers    4. Fiction    5. Readers - Beginner    6. Zoo animals    7. Zoos   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Bears    2. Animals - Zoos    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    4. Children: Kindergarten    5. Giant panda    6. Juvenile Nonfiction    7. Juvenile literature    8. Mammals    9. Preschool Informational Books   

Subjects:  1. Animal behavior    2. Animals - Zoos    3. Bedtime    4. Bedtime & Dreams    5. Bedtime Stories    6. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    7. Children: Grades 1-2    8. Fiction    9. Juvenile Fiction    10. Readers - Beginner    11. Sleep   

Reviews (13)

Excellent adventure for young kids
I've had trouble finding good, engaging, book-length stories for my young daughter.This book is a pleasure - my daughter was immediately drawn into the story of Rauolino and his reptile friends, who are trying to flee the confines of the zoo and find their way home.The dialogue is snappy and, if you're paying attention, humorous for adults.My daughter and I read it together in a day and a half.

"I love that book!"
As a teacher,those are words I love to hear, and those
Really Raoulino-Really, REALLYGOOD!
Reading Really Raoulino with my two older daughters, ages 8 and 6, was wonderful.They would tell me at breakfast how excited they were to find out what was going to happen next in the book.We rode the emotional rollercoaster with Raoulino and his friends and adored the story.I emphatically urge other families to enjoy this book together.
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Subjects:  1. Animals - Reptiles & Amphibians    2. Animals - Zoos    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 4-6    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. Non-Classifiable   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Zoos    2. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    3. Children: Grades 3-4    4. Juvenile Nonfiction    5. Juvenile literature    6. Specimens    7. Toy and movable books    8. Zoo animals    9. Zoos    10. Juvenile Nonfiction / Animals / Zoos    11. Pop-up & lift-the-flap books    12. Zoos & wildlife parks   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Zoos    2. Aquariums    3. Aquariums, Public    4. Aquatic animals    5. Children's Baby - Nature    6. Children: Grades 2-3    7. Juvenile Science (General)    8. Juvenile literature    9. Marine animals   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Zoos    2. Animals / Pets    3. Camels    4. Children: Grades 2-3    5. Juvenile Nonfiction    6. Juvenile literature    7. Mammals    8. Zoo animals   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Elephants    2. Animals - Zoos    3. Children's 9-12 - Animals/Pets    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    5. Children: Kindergarten    6. Elephants    7. Juvenile Nonfiction    8. Juvenile literature    9. Mammals   

Reviews (1)

A favorite of my 14 month old
This book is one of my 14 month old daughter's favorite books.It is small enough and light enough that she can carry it around easily in one hand and "read" it to herself, which I think is a big part of the appeal.The photos of animals are attractive and colorful and many are high contrast which makes it even more appealing to her.A number of the photos also include baby animals with their parents.The text is minimal - just the names of each animal, one per page.A nice basic book of animal photos, in a format that makes it very accessible for toddlers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - Zoos    2. Children's 4-8    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Babies & Toddlers    5. Juvenile literature    6. Zoo animals    7. Character books    8. Juvenile Fiction / Animals / Zoos   

Editorial Review

Parents, get ready to put up a fight. Once kids take a peek at thisfabulous book of animals, the mundane world of food, bath, and bed will lose allmeaning. Packed with such marvels as the blue-ringed octopus, silverbackgorilla, hummingbird, and pink-toed tarantula, this big, colorful entry in DK'sbountiful My First series is sure to win a favored spot on the family bookshelf.Every page is filled with stunning close-up photos of critters, both domesticand wild. Clear labels help young readers on the road to reading, since they'llbe dying to know the name of that furry brown monster (baboon spider) or thecool-looking, pointy-eared cat (caracal). Beyond the spreads on wild dogs,bears, crocodiles and alligators, butterflies and moths, snakes, etc., there aresections on camouflage ("Amazing disguises"), spotted animals, animal colors,animal movers ("strutting rooster," "stalking panther"), animal opposites("heavy walrus," "light butterfly"), and an animal babies match-up. Readers wholove DK's stellar titles might also enjoy Read more

Reviews (5)

Not as good as the rest of the series
We love the "my first board books" series - they really hold our 16-month-old daughter's interest, and she asks for them again and again. I was excited to buy the "animals" book, expecting it to be fantastic, but was disappointed to find that mixed in with the crisp, gorgeous photos that are a DK Publishing hallmark were a number of flat, uninteresting drawings of animals. Even animals that should have been easy to find photos of - wolf, penguin, pigeon - are represented by drawings instead. There are still plenty of great photos, but it's a shame that ALL the pictures aren't photos.

Keeps our son's attention
As much as our son loves trucks and truck books, he's a big fan of this one too.Each page is a theme such as "creepy crawlies" or "babies in the wild" with appropriate pictures.The pictures are quite good and eye catching.The book is somewhat above average in durability compared to others of this brand (so far).The "pages" seem thinner than in other books, most likely to accomodate many more pages than are in others.
Too busy
It's a good book, but there are too many animals on each page.The book is more for an advanced reader, rather than a beginner.A picture of a bird is sufficient, rather than 10 different types of birds and all the different names.Also, fyi, note the dimensions of the book, it's smaller than I thought it'd be. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Animals - General    3. Animals - Zoos    4. Children's 4-8 - Nature    5. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    6. Children: Preschool    7. Juvenile Nonfiction    8. Juvenile literature    9. Nature - General    10. Juvenile Nonfiction / Animals / General   

Reviews (1)

Not what I expected
It is a tiny book with just a set of alphabet stickers.I was expecting a work book or something. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Activity Books - General    2. Animals - Zoos    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    4. Children: Grades 1-2    5. ABC books    6. Juvenile Nonfiction / Activity Books    7. Sticker & stamp books   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Zoos    2. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    3. Children: Kindergarten    4. Classics    5. Concepts - Words    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Readers - Beginner    8. Juvenile Fiction / Classics   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Mammals    2. Animals - Marine Life    3. Animals - Zoos    4. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    5. Children: Grades 1-2    6. Children: Preschool    7. Juvenile Nonfiction    8. Juvenile literature    9. Sea lions    10. Seals (Animals)    11. Zoo animals