If I Ran the Zoo (Classic Seuss) by Dr. Seuss is a classic zoo book! What kid wouldn’t want to imagine all the wonderful things they would do if they were asked to be in charge of the zoo for a day 🙂 This story is a fun introduction to animals and their characteristics. It is written in the first person, with repetitive sentences. The nature of repetitiveness enables young readers to predict and engage with the story.

We can’t wait to head out to spend some time with our local polar bears, giraffes and monkeys this year. I still do recommend that children read this book and form their own opinion, and that adults let them and that adults discuss with them and that you all realise things aren't as bleak as they appear in this text. Zoo was written and illustrated by Gail Gibbons. This informative book introduces readers to all of the work that zookeepers do at the zoo. From the early morning hours before guests arrive, to the final walk through at night, the easy to understand text and friendly illustrations touch on all the work that goes on behind the gates. From craft templates to scavenger hunts and everything in between. Pique your little one’s interest in zoo animals with these zoo preschool theme printables. Zoo Animals Ideas for KidsWild About Books was written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown. This hilarious tale imagines what happens when a wayward librarian takes her bookmobile to the local zoo. The entertaining rhyming text is accompanied by vivid and detailed illustrations of zoo animals reading and enjoying story time. This age range for this book is 8-12 with Children younger than 8 accessing the book via the great Illustrations and older Children being able to understand the real story. Older children can understand the theme from the text but younger children may need to be shown the pictures and maybe asked, ‘what is unusual about this picture?’ These 20+ amazing photos show the details of many zoo animals from their eyelashes to tongues, along with posing some very interesting details about many zoo residents. Great for kids ages 3+ (really, this is a cool book even for adults!) Good Night Zoo (Good Night Our World) was written by Adam Gamble and illustrated by Cooper Kelly. This entry in the Good Night Our World series takes readers on a stroll around the zoo, greeting all the animals they encounter. The story starts by saying good morning, and eventually winds down to a peaceful good night. This is a great one for settling little ones in at bedtime.

The Capital Mysteries are a great series all around for kids starting early chapter books. In the Capital Mysteries #9: A Thief at the National Zoo, the kids have to solve the mystery when the Tiger’s Eye jewel is stolen during a zoo event! Ann of Doodles and Jots has some great recommendations: Zoo-ology, ZooZical, My Heart is Like a Zoo, and Color Zoo. Zoo-ology by Joelle Jolivet

Keep up to date with our latest news

My Visit to the Zoo was written and illustrated by Aliki. This book follows two young kids as they visit the zoo and learn about all kinds of animals. The descriptive text shares lots of fun information about the animals, and additional facts are hidden throughout the book as well. The illustrations are lush and realistic, showing lots of details about the beautiful animals. But this book has a delightful extra feature. It is a “noisy” book! And I can assure you (because I’ve done this myself) that if you accidentally sit on it, you will find that it might trumpet at you, or chatter like a monkey, or even (and this is a bit scary if you’re not expecting it!) even hiss like a snake! I have read many children books with a zoo theme. A visit to the zoo is almost always a fun experience, the animals are awesome, the family has a great time discussing and admiring the beauties of the God's creations. But this book is different from the rest. The visit to the zoo was lousy, and it sounds more like one of those ordinary, nothing-great visits to the zoo experienced probably by too many families from time to time. We all know that it’s not possible to pet most of the animals at the zoo, so this book introduces younger children to what they might feel like if they were able to get up close. Fun for ages 1 – 4 years.