What's New? The Zoo!: A Zippy History of Zoos

by Kathleen Krull, Marcellus Hall (Illustrator)

Overview

With friendly facts, funny pictures, and animals galore, What's New? The Zoo! is history to roar for!

Did you know . . . * The first zoo was established forty-three hundred years ago in what is now Iraq?* Aztec King Moctezuma II had such an incredible collection of animals that it took six hundred men and women to care for them?* Children across Great Britain wrote to Queen Victoria when Jumbo the elephant was sold away from the London Zoo?* Fifty buffalo passed through Grand Central Station in 1907 on their way to the Bronx Zoo?* Zoos now play a crucial role in animal conservation?Kathleen Krull and Marcellus Hall bring witty insight, jazzy style, and a globe-trotting eye to our millennia-long history of keeping animals -- and the ways animals have changed us in turn.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545778787
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	06/24/2014
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Lexile:	NC1160L (what's this?)
File size:	69 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 10 Years

About the Author

PW says that Kathleen Krull "knows exactly how to captivate her audience" by combining historical particulars with "amusing anecdotes that put flesh and blood on dry literary bones." Her subjects range from music to science to sports, but her books are consistently smart and incredible fun to read. She lives in San Diego, California.
Marcellus Hall has illustrated seven children's books, including EVERYONE SLEEPS, which he also wrote. His artwork has appeared on the cover of the NEW YORKER and in many other publications. He plays music and draws in New York City. Please visit his website at www.marcellushall.com.

Editorial Reviews

04/28/2014
From their beginnings as private collections of the rich and powerful to the mass attractions and conservation hubs they are today, zoos have an interesting and sometimes odd history, as Krull (the Lives of... series) details. From Indonesia to Italy, Sweden to San Diego, colorful headings on each page introduce a place and year where zoo history was made, and a short paragraph follows (in 16th-century Afghanistan and India, “Akbar the Great treats his one thousand cheetahs more kindly than most people of his time. To care for them and the other animals he befriends, he builds zoos much grander than any in Europe in the lands he conquers”). Readers learn about a holy water–spraying elephant in Rome in 1513 and a hairdo-inspiring giraffe in 1827 France. Hall’s (Everyone Sleeps) ink-and-watercolor illustrations, vignettelike in their half-page displays, feature expressive eyes on both animals and humans in many spreads. The art’s spare, naïve style fits the brief-text format as the narrative moves briskly and chronologically through some highlights of zoo history, avoiding any controversial aspects. Kids of all ages will be left craving a trip to the zoo. Ages 4–8. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for What's New? The Zoo!: A Zippy History of Zoos:

"A whirlwind, episodic tour of zoos around the world through the ages.... fascinating facts intrigue while they inform.... The full-color ink and watercolor illustrations are rendered in a sketchy, elastic, cartoon style and feature a wonderful multicultural cast and playful moments for sharp-eyed readers to spot.... ideal for browsing purposes or for school reports." -- School Library Journal, starred review
"From their beginnings as private collections of the rich and powerful to the mass attractions and conservation hubs they are today, zoos have an interesting and sometimes odd history, as Krull (the Lives of... series) details.... Kids of all ages will be left craving a trip to the zoo." -- Publishers Weekly
"A romp through zoo history presented with pizzazz." -- Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2014
Gr 2–5—A whirlwind, episodic tour of zoos around the world through the ages. Krull takes readers back 4000 years to zoos in Sumeria and ancient China, India, Greece, and Ethiopia, as well as to the menageries of Kublai Khan, Charlemagne, Pope Leo, and Aztec emperor Moctezuma II straight through to modern times. She briefly describes each zoo or collection in a brief paragraph stuffed with fascinating facts that intrigue while they inform. The book ends with modern-day zoos and efforts to save species and reintroduce some of them back into their natural habitats. The author describes the many reasons for building zoos—to study and classify the animal kingdom, connect humans with nature, and awe visitors—in a lighthearted way. The full-color ink and watercolor illustrations are rendered in a sketchy, elastic, cartoon style and feature a wonderful multicultural cast and playful moments for sharp-eyed readers to spot. This thoroughly researched title cites sources that include books and websites, making it ideal for browsing purposes or for school reports.—Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2014-04-09
For at least 4,400 years, people have collected and displayed animals for entertainment, education and enlightenment.From the long-ago kingdom of Ur, where the ruler enjoyed roaring at his lions, to San Diego, Calif., home of a popular panda cub today, zoos have provided public and private amusement and instruction for thousands of years. Krull's fast-paced survey offers a different animal collection on nearly every page. Date and place serve as headings; a paragraph of description follows. She's found intriguing examples including a "Garden of Intelligence" in ancient China, an aviary-cum-dining hall in Rome, a particularly extensive holding belonging to Aztec emperor Moctezuma II and a present-day bird park in Bali, Indonesia. She mentions zoo conservation work and the move toward natural housing for the animals. The text is lively and often humorous. There's the elephant who sprayed a 16th-century pope and 15 "very confused American buffalo" in Grand Central Terminal in New York. Hall's watercolor-and-ink illustrations, familiar to readers of the New Yorker and other magazines for adults, work equally well for a child audience. His fluidly drawn animals have amusing, slightly goofy expressions, the people are remarkably varied, and the settings include recognizable elements from historical times and places. Varying from vignettes to double-page spreads, these images add greatly to the overall appeal.A romp through zoo history presented with pizzazz. (sources) (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews