Zoo and Animal Book Recommendations

"Walk like the animals...  Talk like the animals...  at the Little Rock Zoo..."

I still remember that advertising jingle from my childhood!  Thirty years ago I loved going to the zoo.  Truth be told, I STILL enjoy going to the zoo.  Which is part of the reason my family has an annual membership to Roger Williams Park Zoo.

And when we aren't visiting the Zoo (because who wants to walk around outside when it's 30 degrees?!), we like to read books about the zoo and about animals.

One of our favorite zoo books is 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle.

Children count animals as they travel on a train to a zoo.  The counting is fun but so are the illustrations, done in typical Carle fashion.  We also like to practice the sounds each animal makes.  Even Sam can let out a pretty good lion roar!!

Another of our favorites is Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire.

A poor leopard (dog? cat? not really sure) tries his hardest to be in the zoo.  He changes his polka dot spots all different ways but, alas, is not talented enough for the zoo.  Thankfully 2 children suggest he join the circus, where he finds he fits right in. 

My kids laugh and enjoy the book a great deal.  They think the leopards tricks are very entertaining.

And last but DEFINITELY not least, we flip through The Encyclopedia of World Wildlife by Mike and Peggy Briggs (published by Parragon) on a regular basis!

This book gives a photograph and description of animals from around the world.  The animals are categorized by their habitat so that you can read about desert animals or tropical forest animals at the same time.  The photographs are close up and allow you to see a lot of detail.

It's a coffee table book which means it's big and heavy but my kids, especially Ben, pull it out often to look at the pictures.  I found it on the discount table at Barnes and Noble for $5 and consider that money well spent!  If you have an animal lover in your family look for this book!

Those are the zoo and animal books we enjoy.  What zoo or animal books does your family love to read?