Customer Reviews

Never, Ever Shout in a Zoo

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book captures the imagination of a child... I can't tell you how many conversations I have had with my own children that remind me of the narrator in this book. The author applies descriptive wording to paint a vivid image of what might happen. The words like "mischievous, dreadful, grouchy, etc" enlighten a child's vocabulary. Of course I don't want my children acting "malicious" but I do want them to know what it means when they hear or read it. It is a great way to introduce new words and talk about positive behavior. My 6 year old son loves the pictures and re-examines them each time we read this. There is a wonderful energy about this book. I can imagine reading this book to a classroom of kindergarteners with wide eyes. It is perfect for that setting! Love it!

This is my son's (18 months) FAVORITE book and has been for some time. And we read A LOT of books!! He constantly brings it to me to read and as soon as he hears the first sentence, his whole face lights up. My daughter (age 3 going on 16) loves it as well and she is VERY curious to know what all the big words mean? (which I for one like!) They both love the repetition and beautiful artwork. They especially love the phrase "Don't say I didn't warn you," which is repeated quite often. This is a home run for Karma Wilson! Her best yet in my opinion!!

Doug Cushman illustrates Never, Ever Shout In A Zoo, a funny picturebook story by Karma Wilson of one little girl's shout in a zoo, and the snowball effect it has upon zoo residents. Chaos evolves as frightened animals discover their freedom and the shouter finds herself running from a myriad of hilarious residents.

I feel like I'm writing two reviews here because my views on the illustrations and the text are so different!

The illustrations are painfully odd in some ways. They're pretty, yes, and they feel alive in a way, and you can really see the animals moving and all that - great. But the zoo itself alternates wildly between an extremely old-fashioned zoo of steel bars and barren cages (grr!) and one with basically no enclosures whatsoever such that the animals could hop out of their slightly raised platform and onto the paths at any old time! Either one of those zoo models would be strange to me, but both in one zoo seems... odd. (Why do the apes even NEED to get the keys when none of the animals are "locked" anywhere, anyway?)

As for the text, it's funny and bouncy, and has a few opportunities to build your kid's vocabulary. Yes, I'm talking about the words "malicious" and "conniving". I don't know about YOU, but I would describe a plan by apes to free the animals and lock up the people as, yes, malicious. And I would say sneaking around to do it is conniving. I'm not... I'm not really sure when it became a crime to call a spade a spade unless the spade was light and fluffy.

As far as warning the kids... well! If all these bad things might happen because you shout in a zoo, I'd like to be warned too! And if I shouted anyway, I wouldn't be surprised to get a few friendly "I told you so's" when all was said and done.

But don't ask me, ask my nieces (in pre-k and the first grade). Did they feel upset at the language in this book? Did it scare them? Was it, in fact, horrific?

No. Actually, they laughed and asked me to read it again. I get that not all children are the same, but this is a pretty light-hearted book. Some people need to get a grip.

I really loved this book. I am not a teacher just a mom that likes to read to her kids. The concept of the story is cute. I would shout if I dropped my ice cream too!! But it shows you can't just shout anywhere...especially the zoo. My boys like the "describing words". In fact I think on more than one occasion I have used..."Your a BIG BULL MOOSE WITH A BAD ATTITUDE!" Thanks Ms. Wilson for helping me find a way to get my kids out of a bad mood!

We read to our two month old son constantly and Karma Wilson's books are our favorites. Young children love rhymes and hers are some of the best. Even better, her books are fun for the parents, too.

Karma Wilson is one of the most awesome children's book authors I have encountered in a long time. There is so much to love about all her books but this one in particular gives a teacher or parent an opportunity to really go to town with adjectives. My daughter and I LOVE "describing words" and we are encouraged page by page to come up with some of our own. There is nothing better than getting the creative juices flowing with delicious words like dreadful, grouchy, conniving and malicious. A fun activity to develop from a book like this is to help your child build his or her own dictionary. Add a word or two a day and watch your child's vocabulary soar!!

This is a fun and great book to share with any child who enjoys going to the zoo. Another parent told me about the book after my 3 year old daughter dropped her ice cream at the zoo and began to cry. We read the story and it has helped when we have been out in public settings to share what happens when we yell and how it affects other people around us. The pictures are great and my 2 year old is also a fan of the book. A great addition to any library for young children.

I am a pediatric nurse and I was utterly horrified that this was a child's book. All the negative, scary words and phrases were NOT mitigated by the "pretty" watercolor drawings. My coworkers - all pediatric nurses and most, are mothers were equally offended. Words like malicious and conniving. And constantly "warning" the child. Children are repeaters of phrases and I do NOT want my child or any child repeating back and around "don't say I didn't warn you" as this is the catchphrase. DO NOT BUY

The title warns us to never, ever shout in a zoo. Wouldn't you shout if you dropped YOUR ice cream cone? The heroes innocent shout sets off an animal rampage. Cushman's illustrations are charming. Karen Woodworth-Roman