Still riding the success of The One and Only Ivan, winner of the Newbery Medal in 2013, Katherine Applegate has added a fourth tale to the “Ivan and friends” series with The One and Only Family (Harper Collins, 2024). This book details Ivan’s experience in becoming a silverback and a father in the wildlife sanctuary.

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One winter, the zoo animals have the “doldrums,” in ZooZical by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown (Knopf, August 2011). The genius idea of the small hippo and young kangaroo is to dance and sing throughout the zoo. So of course the zoo animals put on a musical performance, titled “ZooZical.” My son (age 4) and

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Where’s Walrus? by Stephen Savage (Scholastic, February 2011) is a wordless book about a Walrus who escapes from the zoo. As the zookeeper searches for him around town, Walrus cleverly hides wherever he can find a place, blending in with the town workers and scenery. My son loved finding Walrus on each page. Although the

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My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall (Greenwillow Books, 2009) became an interactive picture book for us. Graphic designer Michael Hall has designed a zoo full of animals, each one created by hearts. The text provides similes comparing one’s heart to the animals (such as “eager as a beaver”). My preschooler loved counting

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