As we head toward winter, I’ve found the perfect antidote for the cold-weather blahs. Seven years after the publication of their bestselling picture book, Wild About Books, Judy Sierra and Marc Brown have teamed up again for ZooZical, a fantastic follow-up featuring the most talented zoo animals in the literary world. Right off the bat, I learned something new. According to the book jacket, ZooZical (sounds like a word Dr. Seuss would have coined, doesn’t it?) means: “a song-and-dance extravaganza performed by the denizens of a zoo.” And that’s exactly what you get in this rollicking, toe-tappin’ showstopper. The tale begins in the middle of winter, when attendance at the zoo is low and the animals have a bad case of the doldrums—all that is, except for a very small hippo and a young kangaroo. The two feisty friends have a lot of fun tapping, rapping and twirling on their feet. Soon the other critters are bopping along with them, and before they know it, the animals have decided to put on a show.
There’s a lot to do before the first performance. Musical numbers have to be rehearsed (for example, the rabbits belt out, “If you’re hoppy and you know it, clap your paws,” and even the usually quiet and shy giraffes croon, “It’s a tall world, after all…”). Then the posters, costumes, and scenery have to be crafted. When word gets out about the ZooZical, the residents of Springfield flock to the zoo to see the show. Bears prancing on tightropes, flamingos preening on the flying trapeze, snakes performing as live hula hoops, and ten barking seals rolling on to the stage in a bus, singing—what else?—“The seals on the bus go round and round” are just some of the amazing acts. Brown’s folk-art-inspired illustrations depict creatures of all stripes having a great time—leaping, dancing, singing, and swinging. His exuberant, cheerful artwork is the perfect complement to Sierra’s playful rhyming text: “It was one of those time that you hope never ends,/ When penguins and pandas and pythons are friends,/ When tigers don’t bite, when the doldrums take flight,/ On a magical, musical ZooZical night.”
Bravo! You don’t have to have read Wild About Books (though I guarantee you’ll love that too) to enjoy this sensational second act. ZooZical is sure to be a hit at story-time.
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Between the two of them, Judy Sierra and Marc Brown have authored and/or illustrated many popular picture books. What have you read and would recommend?
