One of my kids most favorite places to go is the zoo! All kids love the zoo, right? There are so many fun, silly, and interesting animals all in one place. In all honesty, I love the zoo as much as my kids do. I never tire of watching the giraffes or the monkeys swing around. The zoo is such a fun place to visit! When I was a kid I always thought I would be a zoo keeper… I think most kids dream about being a zoo keeper at least for a minute right? Their job looks so fun taking care of all those interesting animals. But being a zoo keeper is a big job! Now as an adult I realize how much work (and messy!) it is being a zoo keeper. There is even a National Zoo Keeper Week from July 20-26 to celebrate zoos and recognize those special people who are so dedicated to animal care, conservation, and education.
Peter Pauper Press sent us 2 great books that we have had so much fun with this summer.
“The Zoo is Closed Today” written by Evelyn Beilenson, illustrated by Anne Kennedy
“It was a warm sunny day
with not much to do.
So Sue and John walked
to the Kalamazoo.”But when John and Sue arrive at the zoo, they are in for a big surprise! What is wrong with all of the animals? From Edward the elephant to Marcel the monkey, the animals have tummy aches and toothaches, runny noses and sore throats. Pete the zookeeper can barely keep up with taking care of them and has to close the zoo. And the next day, John and Sue are in for an even bigger surprise! This charming tale, illustrated with humor and warmth, demonstrates the value of sweet friendship.
My kids are obsessed with this book! The pictures are so darling. Halli is always point out all the different animals and funny things on each page. The story literally made Hayden laugh out loud. It is such a great book and is so fun to read before we go on our zoo trips.
It is so fun going to the zoo and then hearing Hayden talk about each animal like they are one of the sick animals from the zoo. My mom is a first grade teacher and kind of a book expert. She has asked me if she can borrow this book before she takes her school kids on zoo field trips. We love this book!!!
This fun and easy Trace-Along art activity book allows budding artists (5 and up) to use the wooden drawing tool enclosed to trace the white outlines of favorite animals on black-coated scratch art pages. Kids will be delighted to see lions, tigers, bears, seals, and more come alive in swirls of colors and glittery foil! They can also use the sketch pages in the back to draw their own pictures of favorite animals. “At the Zoo Scratch & Sketch Art Activity Book” includes a wooden stylus for drawing on black-coated paper to reveal glittering, gleaming colors beneath, wire-o-bound hardcover binding and 20 scratch off, 20 illustrated and 20 sketch pages.
Hayden is my little artist. He is constantly drawing, sketching, and doodling. We have several notebooks of his creations that we have saved of all of his beautiful artwork. My mom happened to randomly find a Scratch & Sketch book a few weeks ago. Hayden was in artist heaven! I knew I had to find more Scratch and Sketch books and then when Peter Pauper Press it was meant to be.
Hayden will sit forever carefully tracing and scratching away at the white outlines of all of the animals. He loves to scratch and sketch to revel the fun patterns and colors underneath. I love that each page also has a few great facts about the animal. The extra sketch pages are super fun for our zoo trips. He loves to draw all of his own pictures of the animals we see.
These books are so fun! You and your little zoo lovers will adore them.
Right now one (1) Mom Spotted readers has the opportunity to win ONE (1) “The Zoo is Closed Today” book and ONE (1) “At The Zoo Scratch & Sketch: An Art Activity Book for Animal Lovers” book! To enter use the Rafflecopter form below. Good Luck!
Contest ends 8.25.14 at 11:59pm. For Official Giveaway Rules click here. U.S. Residents Only.
About Megan
We go every few months and we love the elephants!!
we go every 6 months maybe – they love the monkeys
We do not go often, because the zoo closest to us is expensive and not very good, but we have gone a couple of times.
We love the zoo! Our favorite animals are all of the big cats. Lions, tigers, leopards, all of the big cats!
We love the zoo! My kids love to watch the bears splash in the water and play with the toys that are in their cage!
My little guy loves all the animals but his favorites are the giraffe’s, monkeys and lions
We go to the zoo a couple of times a year. My daughter likes the hippo’s
we don’t go often but we like the big cats
We visit the zoo several times a year. She loves the zebras and bears. She’s fascinated by the hippo habitat display and finds the Opaki very interesting.
we go to a zoo maybe once a year the boys love to watch the monkeys
Yes, we go to the Oregon zoo frequently! His favorite animals are the giraffe and the polar bear.
We love the zoo! My daughters favorite animal is the monkeys 🙂
we dont have any local zoos but my son loves penguins!!
love the milwaukee county zoo and we love the monkies
We go pretty often! My son loves the elephants and daughter loves the giraffes!
We have no zoo close to us to go to. Favorite animal of mine is a tiger.
We live out in the country so it is a very long drive. We try to go at least once a year. My daughter loves giraffes and my son loves camels
We don’t get to go often but we love the monkeys!
My kids have only been once when they were smaller. They loved the monkeys.
Yes, we got a few times each summer. My son loves the giraffes!
Yes, we love to go to the zoo. We like the giraffes!
We do go to the zoo often! We love the monkeys, penguins, seals, and the dolphins!
We go to the zoo 3-4 times a year. The monkeys are the kids favorite.
I take my kids to the zoo at least once a month and their favorite animal at the zoo is the Giraffe.
We usually go to the zoo a couple times a month. My little guy loves the Pandas.
We go sometimes and they like the tigers, monkeys and penguins.
We go to the zoo every other year or so. My daughter loves the polar bears
We haven’t been to the zoo in a long time, but I’d love to more! Love the elephants!
We go once or twice a year. My daughter loves the monkeys, my youngest son the lion and my oldest son likes the bears!
the monkeys and then the snakes
My kids and I go to the zoo once every few months. My son likes the zebras and my daughter likes the meerkats.
We usually visit the St. Louis Zoo once a year. My fave are the zebras and lions. Thanks.
partymix25(at)hotmail(dot)com
We go once every few years. We like zebras! They’re stripes are fascinating.
We don’t get a chance to go to the zoo very often. My daughter’s favorite animal is the elephants.
We love to go to the zoo and look at the monkeys but we haven’t been for quite awhile.
My kids love giraffs and elephants!!
we go annually. my daughter loves the zebras. she can’t tell me exactly why, but she loves them. it’s so cute.
we go to the zoo about twice a year- and my daughter loves the monkeys the most.
thanks so much! xoxo
It’s rare.. but when we do it’s all about exotic birds.
We use to go to zoos on a regular basis. The giraffes are the family favorite.
Yes, I take my 2 granddaughters (sisters) to the zoo usually every other month. They love animals especially the polar bears.
we go once a yr, and my son likes the elephants
We used to go to the zoo quite a bit, but never purchased a pass this summer. We miss the river otters !
We try to take the kids to the zoo once during the spring (usually on spring break) and then once in the fall (for Boo at the Zoo trick or treat event). My kids are very mesmerized by the penguins.
We go about once a year and my children both love the monkeys!
we try to, it;s just solo hot in tennesse!
We usually go every other year. The one here is just too expensive to go more often.
Oops forgot dd’s favorite animal! LOL She likes the goats at the petting zoo!
We go to the zoo several times through out the year! My son’s favorite is he polar bears!
We just went recently after having been away for a while. Our favorite are the orangutans.
We went to the zoo once last year. At that age, it was just about any animal that was moving rather than sleeping.
my grandkids go every once in awhile to this small zoo around their house. their favorite is the lion
We have only been to the Zoo once, my daughters favorite animal was the Zebras. We do have a local park with animals though and there her favorite animal is the Nana (a Llama, but she calls her Nana because she looks like my mother lol)
My daughter and her family have never gone to the zoo, as far as I know. We took HER to the zoo ofter when she was young. I think her their favorite animal would be the giraffe because the baby’s room is decorated with one.
We actually don’t go often – maybe 3 times since he’s been born (he’s 3). We used to take my older kids a lot but let our membership expire around the time the youngest was born. His favorite animal is the crocodile.
Our family does go often. Our favorite animal is the monkeys.
We go to the zoo about once a year. My daughter’s favorite animal is the giraffe.
We love the zoo. Especially the penguins!!
unfortunately most of the zoos are gone around here
We actually haven’t been to the zoo yet! We’ve been waiting til it cools off a bit. But we’ve read lots of book and seen lots of shows about the zoo, so I know that he really likes monkeys and cheetahs.
we go at least once a year.
We go to the zoo once a year at least and the grandkids love the gorillas.
vmkids3 at msn dot com
We love to go to the zoo and are members of our local little zoo. My kids love the lions and tigers.
I took my niece to the Dallas Zoo in February when they had a $5 admission special. She didn’t seem to have a favorite likes them all
We try to go once a year. Their favorite is the gorillas and elephants.
We used to be zoo members and go daily. We live far from a zoo now, but we still try to make to a zoo once or twice a year. My daughter loves lemurs!
We take our Granddaughters at least twice a year. Their favorite animal are the monkeys.
not often, my daughter love tiger
We try to go once a year. My daughter loves the flamingos the most 🙂
We go about 2-3 times a year the kids love it i think their favorite would probably be the lions!
We usually go a couple of times a year. My son loves the giraffes and my daughter likes the snakes.
We have to travel several hours to go to the zoo. So we only get to go about two to three times a year.
My sons favorite animal is the lions.
jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
There are no zoos were we live so I haven’t been to a zoo in years. Its unfortunate because I know my boys would love it.
We take my granddaughters or twice per year Nd she has a new favorite animal every year.
we haven’t been to a zoo in a couple years
We go to the zoo a few times throughout the year. My kids love the monkeys and the polar bears the best.
We go to the zoo about 4 times a year. My daughter love the giraffes and my son loves the monkeys.
No, we do not go to the zoo often. I believe my nephew’s favorite is monkeys.
We go to the zoo every couple years (the nearest one is 3 hours away). The kids love the gorillas. Thank you
We try to go at least once a year! WE love tigers!