Zoo Zoom!

September 7, 2015
There’s a rocket ship parked outside the zoo, Monkey has the key, and all of his zoo-mates are game for an extraterrestrial joyride. Some of them—Buffalo, Flamingo, Crocodile—take to the controls like Han Solo. But there are loose cannons on board, too: Pronghorn brings a French horn, and Rhino falls asleep against a lever, threatening to send the ship hurtling far further into space than anyone intends. Pamintuan’s (the Alien in My Pocket series) digital illustrations have the energy and strong characterizations of classic animation, while Ryan’s (Ewe and Aye) text is a kind of smorgasbord: simple sentences (“Flamingo calls, ‘Go!’ Kiwi cries, ‘Whee!’ ”) are followed by rhetorical questions with internal rhymes (“Which seat can’t be beat?”) and a refrain built around the word “zoo” (“Zoo Vroom! Zoo Vroom!”). It doesn’t do much to move the story forward, but the method behind the madness becomes clear in the final pages, where the text takes on a canyon echo effect as the animals return home: “Crocodile dial./ Pronghorn horn./ Buffalo low./ Cockatoo, too.” Ages 3–6. Illustrator’s agent: Mela Bolinao, MB Artists.

February 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 1-A clever story of a bunch of zoo animals on an adventure to the moon. The animals take over a rocket ship and blast off. The simple, rhyming text makes this appealing as both a read-aloud and an option for emerging readers. Pamintuan's illustrations feature colorful cartoons reminiscent of the Disney cartoons from the 1990s. The style perfectly complements the tone of the book and adds an extra layer of humor that will appeal to children. VERDICT A funny picture book addition for most collections.-Patrick Tierney, Dr. Martin Luther King Elementary School, Providence, RI

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015
A bevy of zoo animals takes off for the moon. Endpapers show a group of animals rushing toward a rocket ship, and then the story follows them page by page as they blast off into space. The text is playful, if a bit forced, with a question-and-answer format that allows the illustrations to support textual responses to queries: "Puffin flies in. / Cockatoo, too. / Which gear to get here? / ZOO MOON! ZOO MOON!" typifies the pattern. The accompanying digital illustration shows the puffin and cockatoo at the rocket's control board, but it also includes animals from the prior spreads, which creates a cumulative visual effect that continues throughout the book. It's notable that the animals included aren't all familiar ones-branching out from the common lions, elephants, giraffes, and so on, this book instead includes not just a puffin and a cockatoo, but a kiwi and a pronghorn among other exotic choices. The animals' cooperative effort to reach the moon fails, alas, with worries of "ZOO DOOM!" and sightings of "ZOO FUMES!" The animals safely return to the space center to plan for and dream about the next time they can (try to) zoom to the moon. An agreeable book to entice space enthusiasts as well as animal lovers. (Picture book. 2-5)

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