Product Description

Join Will Hillenbrand's group of mischievous, playful, and sleepy baby animals on their way to the children's zoo. You'd better hurry, though . . . they can't be late to greet the first busload of children!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #228954 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 40 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780152167905
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
"Down by the station, early in the morning," before any visitors arrive, who exactly is riding that zoo train? Hop aboard and find out! See the elephant calf waving good-bye to Mommy and Daddy. And there's a pink flamingo chick, ready to ride. Who's this sleepy black-and-white cub? Still wrapped in a blanket, the panda isn't quite awake yet. The train chugs merrily along, picking up baby animal passengers. But beware! There's danger in the pond beside the tracks. Will the seal pup and baby penguin escape from the circling crocodiles?

Will Hillenbrand, illustrator of Counting Crocodiles and The House That Drac Built, has always been curious about what goes on in a zoo before opening hours. Adapting a traditional children's song, Hillenbrand depicts his charming vision, and presents a parallel journey of a school bus approaching the zoo while the train is making its rounds. Children, as diverse as the chicks and cubs and kits, bound out of the bus to seesaw with the elephant and play kickball with the seal. And the napping panda? He's found his match in a blanket-toting boy. "Puff, puff, toot, toot, off we go!" Basic song notation is included in the back for budding musicians. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
"This whimsical interpretation of a familiar song offers preschoolers a ticket to ride on an enjoyable excursion through a children's zoo," PW wrote. Each new animal passenger adds to the cumulative refrain, "building up a symphonic chorus that begs for audience participation." Ages 3-7. (Oct.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-In this sprightly picture-book version of a favorite song, a train rides around the zoo picking up baby animals. With each new passenger, a new sound is added to the classic verse: "Puff, puff,/Toot, toot,/Off we go!" An elephant calf adds a "Thrump, thrump"; a flamingo chick, a "Peep, peep," etc. As the song glides merrily along, the bright mixed-media illustrations tell another story: while the gamekeeper sits onboard trying to read, a small monkey and penguin get into all sorts of mischief, from walking a tightrope between the cars to falling into the alligator pond. All ends happily, however, as the animals arrive at the zoo just in time to greet a group of children on a class trip. Between the bouncy text and the motion-filled pictures, this is a story that just keeps chugging along. Hillenbrand pays attention to detail: a red balloon released in the first spread soars through the rest of the book, and visual details on each spread give clues to the next creature to be introduced. Pastel tones convey the exuberant feel of a sunny morning, and the excitement of a field trip for both the animal and human children. The music score is appended. This twist on an old favorite combines sunny illustrations, playful humor, and appealing animals, making it a surefire selection for storytime success.
Kathleen M. Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, Eldersburg, MD
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

My son's favorite book!
This is by far my 2 year old son's favorite book and he has lots of them. Whenever it's time to read to him he says "toot toot" and I know that means he wants to have this book read to him, sometimes several times in a row. The illustrations are wonderful, and there is all sorts of stuff going on if you look closely. An all around great, fun book, I highly recommend this book.

You will LOVE this book!
My 3 year old is crazy about this book! The story (tune) is easy for him to sing along with, and the pictures are adorable. They really tell the story. There is so much detail to the pictures that we can spend lots of time on each page - "do you see where the balloon went this time?" "what is the elephant doing now?". I also absolutely love it that there are very diverse children in the book - even a little girl in a wheelchair. This is now one of my regular "gift" books for all new babies, too.

A Great Book to "SING" to your children!
My 2 1/2 year old LOVES this book...and so do I! It is so great to curl up with this book and spend some time singing the song (complete with wonderful animal noises) while looking at the cheery illustrations. The loving animal families as well as the children of all colors, shapes and sizes (even one in a wheel chair) lead to fun discussions as we read. My five year old loves it too!