Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Birthday Zoo
Illustrator: Lynn Munsinger
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 7
Albert Whitman & Company, 2002 ISBN: 0807507776
It is a little boy’s birthday, and the zoo animals are determined to make the little boy’s celebration special. It is their job to “make everyone happy,” and they set about doing so with a will. The question is, how does one begin?
The raccoons start the process off by blowing up the balloons. Then the sloth puts the tablecloth on the table, the bats get the hats, the lynx gets the drinks, and the monkey suggests that they have a game of pin the tale on the donkey. The donkey is not too keen on this idea though since he is the one who has to have a pin stuck in his…um…tail area.
Children who like zoo animals will find this book quite irresistible. With its wonderfully funny nonsense rhymes and its chaos-filled illustrations, this is the ideal book to share with someone on their birthday.