If I Ran the Zoo

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Summary: The Best of Dr. Seuss!
Review: "If I Ran the Zoo" is my absolutely favorite book by Dr. Seuss! This book is an instant childhood classic. I cannot remember how many times I begged my grandmother to read it to me. By far one of the Doctor's most imaginative stories.

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Summary: The book that named the Nerds
Review: Actually this book is the one that introduced for the first time the word NERD. The widly spread use of this word was taken from a curiosly angry character in this book. Only for that, this book deserves to be a classic. But aside that, this book is probably the best work of Dr. Seuss. It is very imaginative, beutifully illustrated and impressively well writen.
A must have for every child. I?m mexican and this book illustrations made me learn english. I truly recommend this title.

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FROM THE DR. !
Review: AS A PARENT AND TEACHER I HAVE ENJOYED THIS SEUSS BOOK MORE THAN ANY OTHER. COUNTLESS TIMES IT WAS READ TO MY OWN CHILDREN AND NOW MY SON IS USING IT IN HIS CLASSROOM AS CLASSIC SEUSS.A MUST BUY FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT AND FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE!

Rating:
Summary: Best Book Ever
Review: I am currently in high school. Since I was 2 years old I have been enjoying this classic story. It liberates the imagination, and gives all people of all ages the permission to think creatively and accomplish something important. I have lived by this book since I was young. I will always enjoy it because it is an inspiration to any reader who associates with Gerald McGrew. "And some how or other I think I could find some beasts of a much more unusual kind."

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Summary: A zoo filled with fanciful animals of the imagination.
Review: I first read this children's book when I was much, much younger. And, I still enjoy it. It is about a boy who, if he ran the zoo, would replace all the animals with very unusual species, all of them quite fanciful and imaginative. This book is another illustration of how much the author loved children's imagination and how important it is to develop that imagination. The book was a 1951 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustration in a children's book.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best..
Review: In "review" of the current online reviews - y'all just don't get it. Dr. Suess' books are about using ones imagination, not just the environment (which y'all seem to take literally), but how we treat, and take life (ALL life) in general on a day to day basis. Relate the "animals" in "If I Ran the Zoo" or "If I Ran the Circus" to someone you know (or read about). Learn from them. Enjoy.

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Summary: Many negative messages outweight the positives...
Review: Let me start off by saying that I am a huge Dr. Seuss fan. This book does encourage a child's use of his/her imagination, and the fantasy is rich. However, there are elements in the book that disturb me. I understand that it was written in 1950, but I don't know that young children are capable of comprehending the difference. For example, Asians are quite stereotypically depicted, including this line, "With helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant." Africans are depicted in an even sorse way; they look as though they were drawn in blackface, and they have enormous nose rings. The message of hunting down creatures (and taking pleasure in it) so that they can be caged in a zoo for display is also bothersome. I fully recognize that these things are in conflect with our family's values and that other families may disagree. However, I thought families with similar values might appreciate the heads-up.

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Summary: Children can See Possibilities That Grownups Dont
Review: Let's face it. The world has changed a lot since the prolific genius Suess (aka Theodore S. Geisel) penned this classic tale in 1950. The expanse of time, however, has not rendered this rhymed story any less fun for the younger set than it was then.

True enough, young Gerald McGrew complains that the lions and tigers in a pretty good zoo are "awfully old-fashioned"--before dreaming about catching new ones in an equally old-fashioned way.

But most readers--in fact, all but the biggest of stuffed shirts--will quickly forget the politically incorrect aspects of the cages and trap-doodles McGrew imagines taking to the wild mountains of Zomba-ma-Tant and Tobsk, not to mention Motta-fa-Potta-fa-Pell and Hippo-no-Hungus. The machines are pretty amusing--including the Skeegle-mobile, the Bad-Animal-Catching-Machine and the Cooker-mobile.

Travelers through these pages also encounter the gol-darndest lion, with ten feet; topknot hens, an Elephant-Cat, a Gusset, a Gherkin a Gasket, a Tufted Mazurka, a Nerkle, a Nerd, a Bippo-no-Bungus--the list goes on and on--and a Seersucker too (get it?).

If he ran the zoo, Gerald would make a few changes, that's just what he'd do. But changes to this book would totally destroy it. `What this zoo must be worth!" Gerald imagines crowds cheering. "It's the gol-darndest zoo/ On the face of the earth!"

Got that right, young master Gerald. Alyssa A. Lappen

Rating:
Summary: One of the best..
Review: Review Summary: In these days when we realize that wild animals are almost always better off in natural surroundings than in the zoo, this book chooses a questionable place for exercising creativity. The story also builds around the notion of employing lots people who live in the locales where rare animals occur to do much of the heavy lifting. That attitude also seems out of whack with a world in which we honor differences and seek people out on a common basis. Some will also wonder about the wisdom of having the youngster in the story simply let all of the zoo animals go. If you decide to introduce this story to your children, you will probably want to explain a few things to go along with the verse that Dr. Seuss wrote 50 years ago. Otherwise, you can safely avoid this book and go on to one of Dr. Seuss's many fine books that encourage creativity . . . without any mixed messages.

Review: In visiting the zoo, young Gerald McGrew expresses reservations about having an ordinary zoo. "I'd make a few changes." "I want something new!" "Let the animals go, and start over again." The illustration shows the cages being opened up with lions and tigers wandering off down the zoo paths . . . and not being returned to any appropriate place for them to live. Why is that a good example for children? Beats me!

The bulk of the story involves young Gerald telling the zookeeper what he'd do instead, while Gerald imagines himself as the zookeeper. The bulk of the story involves concocting exotic animals from far-off lands and unusual ways to capture them. One of the things I liked about the story is that many of these animals are connected a little to real places or animals. That makes the process of creating them more obvious to a child. For example, the first exotic animal is a lion with at least ten legs, five on each side.

The animals gradually veer away from the standard animals. Next, there's a "new sort-of-a-hen who roosts in another hen's topknot" and so forth so they are all stacked up on top of one another. Following that is an elephant-cat.

At that point, the flights of fancy move further afield. He goes on a hunt for a "What-do-you-know" past the North Pole. In typical Dr Seuss fashion, the names are formed to help make the rhymes work better. You get flustards and bustards. Flustards also eat mustard with a sauce made of custard. In similar fashion, lunks come in a bucket from Nantucket.

For those who watch closely, you'll be amused to see that there's a "Nerd" collected and illustrated here.

One of my favorite hunts is the one for a Natch, in which it is necessary to cook a special meal to lure him from his high cave.

By the time Gerald's done he concludes, "It's the gol-darndst zoo on the face of the earth!" The zoo's collection success he sees as a reflection of his own magnificence.

The illustrations are the book's strength, because the drawings are usually much funnier than the rhymes. the illustrations are done in red, yellow, and blue to highlight the weirdness of the exotic animals. The verse and illustrations complement one another well.

After you finish this story, think about how you could write new rhymes to make it a five-star book. With a little editing here and there, and an occasional added rhyme, you'll soon have a five-star collaboration with Dr. Seuss that you can proudly read to your child. Think of that!

Focus creativity where it will expand the heart as well as the mind!