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Summary
Summary
OVER HALF A MILLION COPIES SOLD!
Winner of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award
It started the summer of 2002, when the Springfield librarian, Molly McGrew, by mistake drove her bookmobile into the zoo.
In this rollicking rhymed story, Molly introduces birds and beasts to this new something called reading. She finds the perfect book for every animal--tall books for giraffes, tiny ones for crickets. "She even found waterproof books for the otter, who never went swimming without Harry Potter." In no time at all, Molly has them "forsaking their niches, their nests, and their nooks," going "wild, simply wild, about wonderful books." Judy Sierra's funny animal tale coupled with Marc Brown's lush, fanciful paintings will have the same effect on young Homo sapiens. Altogether, it's more fun than a barrel of monkeys!
Author Notes
Judy Sierra is the acclaimed author of more than forty picture books, including the award-winning Wild About Books ; ZooZical ; Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf ; The Sleepy Little Alphabet ; Suppose You Meet a Dinosaur ; and Everyone Counts . Her writing for children is enriched by her work as a puppeteer, storyteller, and folklore scholar. Judy lives and writes in Portland, Oregon. You can visit her at JudySierraBooks.com.
Marc Brown is best known as the creator of Arthur the aardvark, but you will find no aardvarks or animals wearing glasses in this book. Drawing upon his classical training at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Marc Brown's colorful paintings for Wild About Books reflect the naïve spirit of folk art at its best. "Judy Sierra's story gave me the opportunity to indulge myself in painting," said Mr. Brown, adding that this is the book of which he is most proud. He lives in Hingham and Martha's Vineyard, MA.
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In a rhyming text that is both homage to and reminiscent of Dr. Seuss's epic rhyming sagas, Sierra spins the tale of librarian Molly McGrew who mistakenly drives the bookmobile to the zoo. The various denizens are attracted to her read-alouds and soon are reading, writing, rhyming, and going wild about those wonderful books. With Molly's encouragement, the animals start their own Zoobrary so they can read to their hearts' content. Sierra's text has a wacky verve and enough clever asides and allusions to familiar characters to satisfy bibliophiles of all ages. The author's sense of playfulness in plot and language ("llamas read while eating their llunches"; a hippo wins the "Zoolitzer Prize") creates a lavish literary stew. Comic moments abound, including bugs writing haiku and unruly bears licking illustrations right off the page (until Molly gently teaches them how to treat books properly). Brown's cheerful, full-color illustrations stretch his trademark art with ever-so-slightly stylized spreads that are rich in pattern, texture, and nuance. On each spread, he plays with perspective and layout to create an electric sense of excitement as the animals discover what kids have known for a long time-reading is fun!-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Sierra (Silly and Sillier) and Brown dedicate this spirited volume to Theodor Seuss Geisel, to whom they give several affectionate nods (including a meter akin to And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street). After the Springfield (Dr. Seuss's hometown) librarian one day drives her bookmobile into the zoo, she settles into a chair with a book: "By reading aloud from the good Dr. Seuss,/ She quickly attracted a mink and a moose,/ A wombat, an oryx, a lemur, a lynx,/ Eight elephant calves, and a family of skinks." As the zoo's residents eagerly descend on the bookmobile, their species-appropriate selections will elicit chuckles from kids: a monkey grabs for a banana cookbook, two crocodiles open Peter Pan to the page featuring the croc that swallows a clock, giraffes pore over "tall books" (devoted to basketball, redwood trees, skyscrapers) and hyenas read joke books. Sierra's cleverly rhymed verse includes many playful embellishments, such as "Raccoons read alone and baboons read in bunches./ And llamas read dramas while eating their llunches." The critters then become wild about writing as well and pen so many new books that the librarian enlists their help to build a library branch at the zoo. Packed with funny flourishes, Brown's atwork reflects a loose, free style; his bustling paintings capture this endearing menagerie's antics. A winning paean to reading and writing. Ages 4-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved