Wild About Books

The magic formula that separates picture books into money-making hits and so-so splashes has never been satisfactorily explained to me. Take, for example, "Wild About Books" by Judy Sierra. This is an author who's greatest hit thus far was a penguin book entitled, "Antarctic Antics". The illustrator of this book, Marc Brown, is perhaps the better known of the two due to his hit book series (and subsequent tv show) "Arthur". Still, even taking "Arthur" into account, it isn't as if a book touched by the magic hand of Mr. Brown is guaranteed instant Top Ten on the New York Times Bestseller list status. Yet for weeks on end, that is exactly where this particular puppy has steadfastly remained. There is something about "Wild About Books" that speaks to people. I'm not sure if it's the Seussian wordplay, the literary name-dropping, or the moral of the story (i.e. read books) but this work has touched something deep in a great many American consumers. As it is, the book is a fine read. No, it's not going to blow you away with its wit and wisdom. The pictures, while fine, are not breathtaking. The rhymes scan nicely but aren't particularly new. I liked the book, no question. I'm just a little baffled by its success.

In this tale we hear about a bookmobile librarian by the name of Molly McGrew who, on one bright and beautiful day, accidentally drove her portable library into the zoo. Not the least bit disturbed by her mistake, Molly lures the animals into her facilities with loud eclectic readings of Dr. Seuss (to which this author owes more than a small debt of thanks). The animals, thus lured and apparently literate as well, find that the bookmobile is stocked with just the kinds of books that appeal to them. The beavers read, "How to Build Dams" (wouldn't they already know?), the crocodiles read "Peter Pan", and the giraffes read books on skyscrapers, basketball players, and redwood trees. Over time, Molly teaches the animals proper book etiquette. And so enamored are they of their books that they start writing them as well. There's a wonderful section in which a scorpion critic critiques various insect haikus it finds (my favorite being, "A cannibal twig, Silently devours a leaf - Eating, not eaten" to which the critic replies, "Pretentious"). Some even make entire books and, in the ultimate act of a truly civilized society, build a library of their own. And so, the author warns, if you are searching for animals at the zoo and don't see them, never fear. "They are snug in their niches, their nests, and their nooks, going wild, simply wild, about wonderful books".

I'm waiting for a snobby reviewer to note that in a passage that clearly states that the llamas were reading dramas, the accompanying picture displays two such beasts reading, "Romeo and Juliet" and another reading "Candide", neither of which are technically considered dramas. I could be that reviewer, but I really liked that section. Heck, a thorough rereading of this book has given me a clearer appreciation of its construction as well. The scorpion haiku section is inspired and will actually serve to teach kids difficult-to-define terms like, "Pretentious" and "Redundant". I was also rather delighted that the librarian in this book is not your stereotypical bun/shhing finger/thick black glasses marm we've seen in so many tales before. This gal is spunky and vibrant. Molly wears pink pants with orange and yellow striped jackets (and some pretty kickin' black boots as well). She gleefully stomps down those old-timey images of librarians as fuddy-duddies.

There's a lot of name-dropping that goes on in this book, you know. For example, "Harry Potter", "The Cat In the Hat", and "Nancy Drew" all get quoted by name while subtler plays and tales like "The Iceman Cometh" (penned by a penguin, of course), "Uncle Vanya", and "Goodnight Moon" show up visually. Actually, it's fair to say that Brown's visual gags far outweigh the book's written ones. Of course, the illustrations in this story are a bit simplistic. They're colorful and inventive when it comes to books and various animals' reading preferences. I also liked (and this is entirely a personal preference so bear with me) that when Sierra mentions an animal, Brown makes sure to draw it. Therefore, a section that mentions, "a mink and a moose, a wombat, an oryx, a lemur, a lynx, eight elephant calves, and a family of skinks", really shows every single one of those animals! And, by extension, kids can learn what skinks and oryxes look like. So now you have a book that's scientific, great with the rhymes, and about the joys of reading. What's not to like?

Of course, the only reason I'm not giving this book five stars is because while it's fun to go through and enjoyable to give to one's children, it's drawings aren't particularly beautiful, it's writing a pale knock-off of Dr. Seuss, and its storyline fun but not all that original. And yet I'm delighted and wowed by the reception it's received. If you're wondering if you can ever trust the New York Times Bestseller list again after "Walter the Farting Dog" stayed on it for so very long, definitely consider this a return to form. It's worth reading to your children and it's a fun fine book.

My three year old son and I love this new book! It has a Dr. Seuss flavor to it which makes it fun and easy to read. It did start more conversations about zoo animals that we don't normally talk about at this age too which has been fun.

What would you think of a book that drew tigers' legs on their heads? Or a giraffe's tail sticking out of its neck?

Is it too much to ask that if insects are included in children's book illustrations that they actually look like insects? Why are our arthropods friends exempt from anatomical correctness? Did Marc Brown just say to himself, "it's too much trouble to figure out what walking sticks, dung beetles, millipedes, and giant hissing cockroaches actually look like -- I'll just make it up and hope no one notices?" All the aforementioned insects are referred to by name in the book. I'm not saying he should get a degree in entomology or anything, but in a book that children will be reading, why not make an attempt? What's next, pictures of cars with tires on top of the roof? No, that would be absurd.

If your children are not interested in insects, they will learn false insect anatomy from this book. If, like mine, your children are always bringing in insects from the back yard in jars, they will be confused about why the insects are drawn so inaccurately.

The rest of the book (storyline, theme, humor) are great but these illustrations should never have made it past the editor.

What would you think of a book that drew tigers' legs on their heads? Or a giraffe's tail sticking out of its neck?

Is it too much to ask that if insects are included in children's book illustrations that they actually look like insects? Why are our arthropods friends exempt from anatomical correctness? Did Marc Brown just say to himself, "it's too much trouble to figure out what walking sticks, dung beetles, millipedes, and giant hissing cockroaches actually look like -- I'll just make it up and hope no one notices?" All the aforementioned insects are referred to by name in the book. I'm not saying he should get a degree in entomology or anything, but in a book that children will be reading, why not make an attempt? What's next, pictures of cars with tires on top of the roof? No, that would be absurd.

If your children are not interested in insects, they will learn false insect anatomy from this book. If, like mine, your children are always bringing in insects from the back yard in jars, they will be confused about why the insects are drawn so inaccurately.

The rest of the book (storyline, theme, humor) are great but these illustrations should never have made it past the editor.

I bought one for each of my two grandchildren and plan on it as christmas gifts for nieces and nephews! This book is delightful and fom babies to school age children, I'm sure adults will enjoy reading it to children of all ages. I loved the story,the huge variety of animals, ryhming words, bright colours and illustrations. The ideas of what books the animals read according to their species were very cute. Having worked in a library for the past 8 years it was wonderful to see the authors subtle hints on teaching children on how to respect and take care of books and the plugs for other great titles and authors. Books are a wonderful gift that can be opened again and again.

We love this book. A teacher who was retiring gave me her copies of many of her favorite books for my daughter, and this book was among them. When my daughter chose it to read one day, we instantly fell in love with it. It rhymes, which is a feature we really love. It also has a lot of lesser known animals (bandicoot). My daughter isn't old enough to understand all of it yet, but the reference to some classic books (Dr. Seuss) is also a feature I really like. My daughter especially likes the part that goes, "The bears' love of books is completely outrageous. They licked all the pictures right off of the pages." It does work well for teaching caring for books. We bought this copy of the book for a friend's birthday party. My daughter is 3 now and really started enjoying listening to this book when she was about 2 and a half.

Wild About Books is one of my school's favorite read alouds for students who are kinders through fifth graders. The delightful Seuss-like rollicking rhyme accompained by humorous artwork makes this a standard for every classroom.

Parents will also love this book and not mind at all the directives of kids who cry, "Read it AGAIN!"

Wild About Books is one of my school's favorite read alouds for students who are kinders through fifth graders. The delightful Seuss-like rollicking rhyme accompained by humorous artwork makes this a standard for every classroom.

Parents will also love this book and not mind at all the directives of kids who cry, "Read it AGAIN!"

I found this at my local library and I ended up buying myself a copy! This is such a fun book! I love the rhyming text, and the illustrations are colorful and fun. It’s all about a zoo full of animals discovering a love of reading, so the message is great too. I plan on using it in my classroom over and over!

This book is beautiful and great story. I ordered it for a unit that I am teaching in my kindergarten class and was so happy with how quickly it arrived, but was disappointed to find that the book was damaged. The middle pages were glued together, and in order to read the book I had to rip them apart. Now it's readable, but also a bit tattered. Unfortunately I couldn't return it because I needed it right away.