Z Is for Zookeeper: A Zoo Alphabet (Science Alphabet)

I love how this book can be scaffolded to various ages - reading the longer text to older children and the shorter text to littler ones. The illustration is good but the overall design and spacing of the pages could have been much better. Minor complaint but it could have been that much better with full page illustrations.

Each page has a short set of text that discusses the letter of the alphabet in relation to the zoo (great for the attention of younger kids) AND a longer set of text on the side of each page that details zookeepers' work with the animals on the page (great for a 5-year-old and up). It's an awesome book that can grow with your child and works well if you have kids of differing ages, not to mention its educational--win-win!

Purchased because author was coming to my daughter's school to speak. Book is good for elementary age kids.

These illustrations are wonderful, and we loved the writing, exploring a zoo from the keepers' perspective! A fun read.

Great for all ages

Too much detail, too many words for my 6-7 yr olds.

My preschooler and I enjoy reading this book together.While the rhymes could be a little better they aren't too bad. The writing is good enough that it keeps both a child's and an adult's attention, which can really be hit and miss in children's books. It's an interesting behind the scenes look at a zoo and the work zookeepers do to care for the animals. I like how adaptable it is too for different age levels. My preschooler at this point simply enjoys the main rhyming text. There's also a sidebar with much more information in a smaller font. I'm sure we'll be adding in reading the sidebar in a couple years. The illustrations are rather pretty as well. Overall, I'm glad I own this book.

Some of the rhymes may be clumsy, but speaking as an animal (zoo) keeper, this book is a real look for kids at what animal keepers really do. The illustrations are beautiful, and the information is incredibly accurate for the small ones. That's a big pet peeve for me... when books seem to consider kids too young to worry about the accuracy of scientific or animal related information.That being said, it's also geared perfectly to kids' interests without losing a spark for adults. The animal keepers I know gathered around this book with delight when it was given at a baby shower. And believe me, we are TOUGH critics on animal books.