A Story for all, Not just Mummy (Dear Zoo)

Member Name: Groovee

Product:	Dear Zoo
Date:	03/04/04 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Short, simple story.

Disadvantages: a bit too short and children wish it to be read over and over

One of the books I came across as a Nursery Nurse was Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell.

All the rooms in the nursery used to fight over the book as the children loved it to be read at story time.

The book is about someone looking for a pet, and starts off with "I wrote to the Zoo to send me a pet." Then you go through simple pages with flaps and underneath is an animal but there is always a reason why it is sent back. Until one day the zoo get it right and send out the perfect pet.

This book is suitable for any age. It all depends on how you use it. For the babies I would read it on a one to one. I would read the story and allow them to open the flaps. I would make the noise of the animal as well as saying the animal's name so that the child can identify. A young baby can easily look at the pages without needing the story to be read. Murray quite often just wanted to look at the animals, but now he is getting older he is managing to listen to a bit of the story and start to make the noises of the animals as he recognises them.

For toddlers (aged about 12-36 months) you can start to ask them what the animal is and what noise they make. You can ask them questions to do with the colour of the animal, where they may live, what food do they eat? The can draw pictures of the animals and do a wall display. You can possibly introduce them to the animals by going on a visit to a pond, the zoo or a farm.

Older children can tell you the story without you telling them it. Quite often the children would take it in turns in the Preschool room to hold the book up and pretend to be the person in charge. As before you can adapt the idea's to suit the children and pre-schoolers are normally at the stage where they can use their idea's for projects. On a one to one basis you can do a more indepth discussion of what sort of pet would the child like and how would they care for it.

By using a bit of imagination you
can make what seems to be a babyish book into a book which all children enjoy.

It is a very simple story which is easy to remember and great for starting to introduce children to early literacy skills. It's a great story for bedtime and quite often I get in to discussions with Eilidh about why an animal wouldn't be able to live in our house and how we could maybe move daddy into the garage instead. The other night she chose that one for her bedtime story and when I said "Don't you want to have a longer one?" She looked at me and said "But mummy, I like this one cos you make it fun!" So obviously the way you read a book can have a big impact on a child.

Rod Campbell's stories do tend to be short and straight to the point, but they are ideal for young children and can be easily found in most good Book shops! You can buy a book or a Hardbacked one and both cost around £4.99, but I bought mine on a 3 for 2 offer.

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