Age Range: 3 to 6
The highlight of this year’s school trip to the zoo was seeing a monkey do a poo and my daughter explained the situation in great detail (with actions!). She then asked to read Poo in the Zoo which is an amusing and original rhyming story about how one little zookeeper has to deal with the animal poo that is generated in his zoo.
The Story: Zookeeper Bob McGrew loves looking after the animals but isn’t so keen on clearing up their poo. One day Iguana escapes and eats everything in sight including a swarm of fireflies. The resulting poo is green and glowing and Bob (who didn’t see what happened) thinks that the poo has come from outer space! Hector Gloop, a poo collector, offers to buy it for his collection and Bob uses Hector’s money to ensure that he no longer has to clean up poo (we’re not going to spoil the story and tell you what he buys!).
This story is not for those who are uncomfortable with the inclusion of poo in a story, it really is everywhere and poor Bob’s task is never ending. His job as a zookeeper is given an amusing twist with the inclusion of the iguana’s glowing, green poo and it is fun for children to know something that Bob doesn’t! There’s poo on every page, often described quite graphically, and my daughter pores over the pictures trying to match the poo to the animal. She’s fascinated by the different types of animal poo that are mentioned in the story, Hector Gloop has quite a collection and Ada Grey’s beautifully illustrated endpapers show lots of different varieties including Griffin Doo-doo and Skink Stink.
Poo in the Zoo has a wonderfully, humorous rhyming text which is fun to read aloud and there is lots of humour in the illustrations. Our favourite illustration is the final one, we love the baby panda sat in a deckchair with a huge ice-cream next to his tea drinking mum and it’s great to see Bob relaxing now that he doesn’t need to work so hard! There is a range of animals in the story which younger children can have fun identifying, we love the way that (very unrealistically!) the visitors to the zoo and the animals mingle together to look at the unusual poo!
Poo in the Zoo is not for the squeamish but the toilet humour will appeal to small children everywhere!
Author: Steve Smallman / Illustrator: Ada Grey
by Unknown [Little Tiger Press]
£5.59
· 
EUR 8,49
· 
EUR 8,38
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EUR 8,25
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$9.33
Thank you to Little Tiger Press for sending us a review copy of Poo in the Zoo. My daughter was insistent that we recommend it on Story Snug, especially after her own zoo experience!
This blogpost from Words and Pictures explains the publishing process behind Poo in the Zoo, from Steve Smallman’s initial submission to the publication of the book.
Toilet humor is always a kids favorite, a winner in a book! #TriedTested
It’s great that my daughter could also link the situation in the book to a real life experience.
with a name like that, it would be a great hit at The Madhouse ! 🙂 #triedtested
It’s a catchy title isn’t it 🙂
This sounds like a really funny book….My girls do like a bit of toilet humor x
I haven’t met a child who doesn’t like toilet humour, this book’s not for the squeamish though!
Funny how children are fascinated with poo! It sounds like a great book! We must track it down #TriedTested
I think most children are fascinated by poo, another of our favourite books is ‘The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit’ by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch.
the tittle made me laugh I love the idea of this book I know anything to do with toilet habits my boys would love so this would be the sort of book that would go down a treat in my house! it sounds great #triedtested
The title really invites you to read the book to find out more 🙂
You really can’t beat poo for entertainment value can you! Have you read “The Mole who Knew it was none of his business”? It’s great – I’m sure she’d love it.
Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week x
We have The Mole who Knew It Was None Of His Business in German, the original version. I prefer it to the English version.
We love a good poo story. This book would go down a storm in our house 🙂 #triedtested
There’s all kinds of poo in this story!
I think that I might just enjoy this book a little bit more than my son. I can see it is something that he would have loved when he was little after all what isn’t there to like about animals and poo! Boy heaven #triedtested
This is a great book for showing that not all animal poo is the same 🙂
I love the title of this book, I will definitely buy it when Dexter is a bit older. I can imagine he will really love it.
It is a fun title, the sort that invites you to open the book and read the story 🙂
I am sure my toddler would love this book, he is rather fascinated by poo at the moment (beginning to potty train!)
Becky xx
#TriedTested
Good luck with the potty training, I don’t have good memories of that phase!
Sounds like a great book, will be looking for this one as toilet humour always goes down well with Monkey!! Thank you for sharing #TriedTested
Monkey will love this (especially the way that Monkey does his poo!).
Sounds like a fun book, something my Monkey would like for sure 🙂
#TriedTested
It is a lot of fun 🙂
My girls love this book and it totally appeals to their dad too 😉 thanks for sharing with #readwithme x
The topic of poo in picture books always appeals to children, glad Dad likes it too 🙂
Oh I keep seeing glimpses of this cover on social media, I must say it does sound quite funny!
#readwithme
What is funny is that the reader knows something that the zookeeper doesn’t 😉
I dread clicking on your links as my amazon wish list always grows! And you’ve done it again! Looks like a real hoot, I have a five year old who would LOVE this!! #triedtested
Thank you for such a wonderful compliment 🙂 Isn’t it funny how five year olds are fascinated by stories about poo?!
We’ve not reached the ‘poo is funny’ stage with my little girl yet but I know it’s coming. This looks like a fab book for that stage. Thanks for sharing #readwithme
It’s a stage that no child seems to bypass 😉
This is just kind of humour that my kids would love. Great post, Thanks for the recommend. #readwithme
Thank you Berg 🙂
toilet humour would be a winner here I am sure!! Sounds like a great book though
#readwithme
Toilet humour seems to be a winner with many small people 🙂