School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-With simple, rhyming statements and a few questions, 23 animals describe their efforts to make a birthday party for a young, gleeful, red-haired boy. The fun begins with a date circled on the calendar. "`Hey, what's the big deal?' noticed the seal. `Birthday today!' reported the ray." Interesting verbs add to the fun, as in "`We need some more forks!' flurried the storks"; and "`Go on, make a wish,' burbled the fish." While Rose's strong rhythm and rhymes will charm youngsters in a storytime, Munsinger's lively pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations beg for closer inspection. Readers will delight in the skillfully drawn, realistic animals engaged in fantastic activity, such as the seal bearing a stack of gifts on the top of his nose, the sloth lying on the tablecloth he is spreading, bats sporting paper hats, and much more on each captivating spread. A sense of reality wordlessly returns on the concluding page as the boy feeds cake to his menagerie of stuffed animals. Libraries will want to support birthdays, zoo trips, and flights of fancy with this splendid celebration.-Laura Scott, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Animals just want to have fun in an array of fall titles. The first, Birthday Zoo by Deborah Lee Rose, illus. by Lynn Munsinger, follows an assortment of animals as they get the party started for one lucky kid (" `Who is it for?' inquired the boar. `Kid with the presents,' answered the pheasants"). Happily chaotic illustrations create a festive mood (a final painting reveals the guests as stuffed toys). (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved