Customer Reviews

My Heart Is Like a Zoo

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All young children have little feelings in their hearts and heads, but it is often difficult for them to understand or express their emotions. This little book of twenty animals, all made up in part of "heart" shapes, can help parents, caretakers and teachers help them understand and express their feelings, emotions and attitudes. This is a fun book of heart words and feelings in the shape of herons, hippos, caterpillars, clams, bears, crabs and many other animals.

"My heart is like a zoo-
eager as a beaver,
steady as a yak,
hopeful as a hungry heron, hoping for a snack . . . "

This adorable "heart" story in rhyme is one of those perfect books to read and discuss during story or circle time. Each of the brief descriptions of an animal can be linked to a primary emotion. The artwork is ingeniously designed to incorporate several heart shapes in each colorful animal. The whole book simply shouts read me and read me again. There are "more than three hundred hearts" in the design of this book for youngsters to count. This book can simply be a captivating page turner for the littlest "readers" or a learning experience for the older ones. If you want an instant classic, this is one you might want to consider!

Kiwi Magazine Review:
I *heart* this book. Although many may see this colorful children's picture book as just a sweet bedtime tale, it is the perfect Valentine craft for kids as well. Imagine the critters that can be made out of heart shapes in various sizes. This book is a breath of fresh air in the shelves full of books about zoo animals. We would recommend it for ages 2-5.

As a 70 year old, I enjoyed the creative designs and colors in the book, but I was concerned that the children would think it was too "babyish." That was not the case. It provided them with ideas for creating their own Valentines, and now my refrigerator door has new decorations. Lots of fun.

A perfect book! Colorful pictures, rhyming text, a built in counting activity, not to mention art ideas with geometric shapes...plus, a sweet child in the end.

The bold block colors and shapes give this wonderful book a kindergarten-y feel. It's really fun for kids to find all the heart shapes and guess how many are on a page before finding them. If only I were this creative with construction paper when I was in kindergarten!

Hundreds of hearts come together to shape some animals both familiar and exotic in this rhyming romp through the various phases of a child's heart before they retire after a busy day (as busy as a zookeeper's even!).

My Heart is Like a Zoo (2010) by Michael Hall introduces children to a variety of new concepts beyond emotions and feelings. The varied palette for both animals and backgrounds can introduce colors as easily as the animals themselves can be used for a counting exercise. Hall uses hearts and the occasional circle or rectangle to create all of the artwork inviting children to identify the various shapes and try to make some shape animals of their own. The large text and boldly colored artwork carry wide appeal as do Hall's clever turns of phrase about steady yaks and happy hippos.

And, of course, as the cover shows very nicely the book is totally adorable! Hall's artwork and writing is fantastic and elevates what could have been a twee, simple book into a complex and entertaining picture book for readers of all ages.

An attractive, versatile book My Heart is Like a Zoo is guaranteed to become a story time favorite.

This is a very sweet book! Each page contains a simile comparing a heart/love to an animal. The illustrations are made up of hearts, which is very fun. I read this book to my special needs preschool class, and it was a bit over their heads. It would be great for children in the primary grades. It could spark a lot of great writing and art projects!

This book is amazing. The pictures are so colorful and bold, and it is a great springboard for discussion of various feelings. Since all the pictures are made of hearts, it would be a great craft idea as well. Well done!

My 4 month old baby totally loves it! She just started recognizing colors and contrasts, she simply can't take her eyes off the sharp contrasting colors and the big shapes. The phrases on each page are short and rhythmic, and the size of the book is big and easy to flip pages, all this while holding baby in my lap! We have been reading/seeing this book at least 2 times everyday and she actually recognizes and gets excited as I bring this out!

The colors and all animals being depicted a collage of the hearts is simply awesome!

I got this book because by wife absolutely loves it. She is a big fan of valentines day but that isn't the only reason she likes this book. It's a fun little book with cute heart animals.