Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo by Karma Wilson

Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Doug Cushman

Rating: 2 stars

Lorelei just ran up to my husband and said "Don't say I didn't warn you!" He looked surprised, then looked at me, and I told him what book it is from--one of the many Karma Wilson books lying around, Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo. There are a few good lines like "Don't say I didn't warn you!" (but that's the best) in this book, and the illustrations are really fun.

BUT it might be a little scary for some little folk. I have to chuckle at myself as I type that...a preschooler book about a zoo that might be too scary? But there are some little ones in our life that are pretty sensitive to some things that you wouldn't quite expect. Here's the story: A little girl shouts in a zoo because her ice cream falls off her cone. This sad yell causes a huge stampede of animals that chase after her--think lions and zebras and apes and bats and foxes and bears chasing after a little 4 year old. The animals then shake the keys out of the zookeeper and lock up the little girl and the other humans in a cage. That might just MIGHT be a bit much for some little kids. Ok, now that I typed this I can understand why it really might be too scary for some kids.

The other BUT in this post/review is that, um, well, you might want to take this review with a grain of salt. Because the copy of the book we got from the library is, um, kind of missing the last page. So we don't know how it ends. I mean, it's pretty obvious--on the left-hand side of the page are three humans, locked up in the cage, glaring accusingly at the right-hand side of the page. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's the little girl with her empty ice cream cone. So let me know if you actually do read the book. Let me know how it ends! I'll be on the edge of my seat until then.

I'm a big, huge fan of Karma Wilson, but this is definitely my least favorite book of hers. Oh well--I guess they all can't be fantastic!