If I Ran the Zoo

All Ages

Birth - 12 months

If I Ran the Zoo

by Dr Seuss

Young Gerald McGrew thinks of all sorts of unusual animals he'd have in a zoo. This is Dr. Seuss at his best.

Age: 5 Year-olds | Title: If I Ran the Zoo | Author: Dr Seuss | Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Young Gerald McGrew thinks of all sorts of unusual animals he'd have in a zoo. This is Dr. Seuss at his best.

Why we chose this book

Dr. Seuss brings his expected silly rhymes and creative creatures to life in this amusing classic of a young boy who imagines what it would be like if he ran the zoo. Kids will laugh out loud at the idea of a ten-legged lion as well as the many other fantastical animals featured in the story. The book uses more sophisticated language, and while patient preschoolers will likely get a kick out of it, it's probably best-suited for older children who can sit still for the ten minutes it takes to read the book cover to cover.

Like all Dr. Seuss books, this one is full of rhymes. If Dr. Seuss couldn't find an actual rhyming word, he simply made one up! This book offers endless opportunities to play with words with the added benefit of exercising a child's imagination. What animals would you put in your zoo!

It's no secret that children like all things silly. Emily, the three-year-old I nanny for, thought the book was an absolute riot. She picked out her favorite creatures and oohed and aahed over the cute ones. She's still a little young for the book's target audience, so I wasn't surprised to see her lose interest halfway through. But by splitting the book into two parts, I found it easier to hold her attention.

--Abby

About the author

Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 2, 1904. After attending Dartmouth College and Oxford University, he began a career in advertising. His advertising cartoons, featuring Quick, Henry, the Flit!, appeared in several leading American magazines.

Dr. Seuss's first children's book, And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, hit the market in 1937, and the world of children's literature was changed forever!
In 1957, Seuss's The Cat in the Hat became the prototype for one of Random House's best - selling series, Beginner Books. This popular series combined engaging stories with outrageous illustrations and playful sounds to teach basic reading skills. Brilliant, playful, and always respectful of children, Dr. Seuss charmed his way into the consciousness of four generations of youngsters and parents. In the process, he helped kids learn to read.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and three Academy Awards, Seuss was the author and illustrator of 44 children's books, some of which have been made into audiocassettes, animated television specials, and videos for children of all ages. Even after his death in 1991, Dr. Seuss continues to be the best-selling author of children's books in the world.