Our Class Took a Trip to the Zoo

From Publishers Weekly Shirley Neitzel and Nancy Winslow Parker collaborate on their eighth endeavor, Our Class Took a Trip to the Zoo. Parker's illustrations stand in for each missing item in the cumulative text, about a boy who loses his hat and even his pants during his zoo visit. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From School Library Journal PreSchool-Grade 1-One mishap after another befalls a young boy as he visits the zoo. He leaves his coat with the chimpanzee, he drops his lunch when a bear startles him, and so it goes. ("A button popped off by the lions' den, I tore my pants on the ostriches' pen when our class took a trip to the zoo.") Each item is shown against a white background and is then cumulated as a rebus. When his sympathetic teacher asks what happened, the child recounts his experiences and the illustrations show the animals and the objects. In the end, the zookeepers give him some of their clothing to wear home. Parker's charming watercolor, pencil, and ink illustrations are cheery and full of fun. Children will enjoy the format and chiming in on the repetitive verses. Pair this with Peggy Rathmann's Good Night, Gorilla (Putnam, 1994) for a jolly storyhour.