Are you looking for literature to support classroom instruction about Zoos? Check out Our Editors’ Choices for titles recommended by the Education World team. Then it's your turn to share books that you enjoy or use in your classroom in the Our Readers’ Voices section below. With your help, we will build the best list on the Web of Best Books for teaching about Zoos.
Mother to Tigers
by George Ella Lyon
You are a Bengal tiger cub, one of three abandoned by your mother. You are so cold and thin that someone with kind hands puts you on a heating pad and sits by you for hours, moistening your mouth with milk. When you give a weak cry and look up, there is a human face almost crying too. Your new mother is Helen Delaney Martini, who has already raised a lion cub in her New York apartment. Tigers in the bathtub will be no problem for her and her husband, Fred. This remarkable book -- strikingly striped as tigers are, sympathetically spoken as any child could wish -- tells the story of Helen Martini, founder of the Bronx Zoo's animal nursery in 1944 and its first woman zookeeper.
Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated The World
by Craig Hatkoff, Juliana Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, Dr. Gerald R. Uhlich
When Knut was born, the first polar bear cub at the Berlin Zoo in more than 30 years, he was no bigger than a snowball and unable to care for himself. His mother, a rescued East German circus bear, didn't know how to take care of Knut and rejected him. Knut would have died if it weren't for Thomas Dorflein, a zookeeper who nurtured Knut, feeding him, sleeping with him, and giving him the love and attention Knut needed to thrive. But Thomas wasn't the only one who adopted Knut. The adorable little polar bear captured the world's attention, and now Knut is loved around the globe.
Now It's Your Turn!
We've shared a few Editors' Choices for teaching about this theme. Now it's your turn to contribute to the Readers' Voices section below. Do you have a book related to this theme that you and your students enjoy? Just click here to share it!
Don't miss our Editors’ Choices for Teachers and for Parents. We're waiting for you to add your Readers' Voices there too.
Good Night, Gorilla
by Peggy Rathmann
A mischievous little gorilla lifts the zookeeper's keys on the first page of this sparely worded picture book. The brightly colored illustrations basically tell the entertaining story as the gorilla tags along behind the man, gleefully freeing all of the other animals, who then follow him single file into his neat little house. It is his unruffled wife who, without disturbing her sleepy husband, calmly returns the creatures to their cages. Even she, however, does not notice the wily gorilla, who, still in possession of the keys, returns to the house, slips into the big bed, and curls up contentedly between the people for the night. A clever, comforting bedtime story. (School Library Journal)
Pssst!
by Adam Rex
A child, a visit to the zoo, animals -- sounds like good, simple all-American fun. But there's something different about this zoo. These animals want things. Unusual things. What will they do with them? Laughs, jokes, and surprises abound in this graphic picture book about a feisty, all-too-helpful little girl and her role in aiding and abetting zoo-animal shenanigans. Adam Rex once again reveals the hilarious hidden life of creatures we thought we knew well.
Animal Strike at the Zoo. It's True!
by Karma Wilson
There's an animal strike at the zoo! What's a zookeeper to do when the lions and tigers and bears refuse to roar and prowl and growl? And when little Sue, who has been waiting all year for this trip to the zoo, enters the gate, will the animals decide to give their strike a break? Karma Wilson's fun, playful text paired with Margaret Spengler's bright and lively pastels create an unforgettable, irresistible zoo of chaos and fun.
Add your voice to our list of books for teaching about Zoos.
The Education World Editors’ Choices above represent just a handful of the fine books that might be used to support classroom instruction about Zoos. Now we’re waiting for you to add to our list! Simply send us your review of a favorite book in 100 words or fewer and we will add it to the Readers’ Choices below.
Good Night, Gorilla
