My Heart Is Like a Zoo

by Michael Hall, Michael Hall (Illustrator)

Overview

A New York Times bestseller!

My Heart Is Like a Zoo features bright colors, simple sentences, playful animals, and more than 300 hearts for children to count and enjoy. Caldecott Medalist Brian Selznick says, "Starting with one simple shape, Michael Hall shows us a nearly infinite number of ways to make a menagerie of love."

This award-winning picture book is a must-have for every young reader, who will learn that a heart can be hopeful, silly, happy, rugged, snappy, or lonely. A heart holds every different feeling, and author-artist Michael Hall captures each one with his bold, graphic artwork. 

An ideal springboard for conversations about emotions, and for introducing concepts, math, and art projects in the classroom and at home. School Library Journal called it an "outstanding choice for one-on-one sharing."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061915109
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/22/2009
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	406,022
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	1 - 5 Years

About the Author

Michael Hall grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and lives with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the creator of numerous acclaimed picture books for children, including Frankencrayon, Red: A Crayon’s Story, My Heart Is Like a Zoo, Perfect Square, and It’s an Orange Aardvark! 

Michael Hall grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and lives with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the creator of numerous acclaimed picture books for children, including Frankencrayon, Red: A Crayon’s Story, My Heart Is Like a Zoo, Perfect Square, and It’s an Orange Aardvark! 

What People are Saying About This

Brian Selznick

“Starting with one simple shape, Michael Hall shows us a nearly infinite number of ways to make a menagerie of love.”

Robert Sabuda

“It stole my heart.”

Laura Vaccaro Seeger

“Michael Hall’s My Heart Is Like a Zoo is a combination of deceptive simplicity and gorgeous graphic design. Colorful, fun, and thoroughly enjoyable.”

Chris Raschka

“Now hear this! The art in this book will astonish Earth!”

Editorial Reviews

It stole my heart.” — Robert Sabuda, New York Times bestselling author

“Starting with one simple shape, Michael Hall shows us a nearly infinite number of ways to make a menagerie of love.” — Brian Selznick, Caldecott Medalist

“Now hear this! The art in this book will astonish Earth!” — Chris Raschka, Caldecott Medalist

“Michael Hall’s My Heart Is Like a Zoo is a combination of deceptive simplicity and gorgeous graphic design. Colorful, fun, and thoroughly enjoyable.” — Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Caldecott Honor Artist, New York Times bestselling author

“The bold digital collages of zoo animals in this debut picture book are clear and bright, and the simple rhymes about feelings will have preschoolers savoring the words, joining in, and pointing at every playful zoo scene.” — ALA Booklist

“Animals, adjectives and hearts—lots of hearts—combine in this bright, appealing selection, reminiscent of the works of Lois Ehlert.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Children just learning about shapes will revel in these pages.” — Publishers Weekly

“This title will have a wide audience, whether in a classroom, library, or at home. An outstanding choice for one-on-one sharing.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Michael Hall’s My Heart Is Like a Zoo is a combination of deceptive simplicity and gorgeous graphic design. Colorful, fun, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Laura Vaccaro Seeger

It stole my heart.

Robert Sabuda

Starting with one simple shape, Michael Hall shows us a nearly infinite number of ways to make a menagerie of love.

Brian Selznick

In his first book, Hall, a graphic designer, takes the idea of love being a many-splendored thing and runs with it straight to the animal kingdom. Using a heart shape as his core visual element, he creates a 20-member menagerie to illustrate the various facets of his affection: “My heart is like a zoo—/ eager as a beaver,/ steady as a yak,/ hopeful as a hungry heron fishing for a snack.” Not every poetic conceit works—there's a jarring quality to having one's heart described as “crafty as a fox” or “snappy as a crab”—and more sophisticated eyes may feel Hall could have used more variation in crafting his animals (the heart shape is used mostly as a head and some form of appendage). But children just learning about shapes will revel in these pages, thanks to Hall's masterful blending of bright, saturated colors, his posterlike compositions, and the sheer animal magnetism of the species he's chosen. Teachers will also find fodder for classroom activities when February rolls around. Up to age 5. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 1—This playful, rhyming concept book invites young readers to explore colors, shapes, emotions, and zoo animals. The crisp, succinct text is carefully crafted to tell a little about each animal; "Cool as a penguin/crafty as a fox,/quiet as a caterpillar/wearing knitted socks." The story skillfully wraps up with a young zookeeper fast asleep, surrounded by his stuffed-animal menagerie, which creates a fun identification challenge at the end. This book is perfect for younger audiences with short attention spans. The bold illustrations were digitally created and feature primary and secondary colors. More than 300 heart shapes form all of the animals featured, providing a simple, clean collage image on each page contrasted with a bright background. Spreads show hippos drinking apple juice, a bothered bull with a hornet in its hair, and a coyote walking in the fog. Readers will not only be engaged in the search for the hearts in each illustration, but will also relate to the feelings that are introduced. This title will have a wide audience, whether in a classroom, library, or at home. An outstanding choice for one-on-one sharing.—Anne Beier, Hendrick Hudson Free Library, Montrose, NY

School Library Journal

Animals, adjectives and hearts-lots of hearts-combine in this bright, appealing selection, reminiscent of the works of Lois Ehlert. Digital art presents each animal in geometric form; comprised of colorful overlapping shapes, each simplified illustration includes a heart (or two or many). The text bounces along, introducing the animals and describing each with a suitable adjective. "My heart is like a zoo," it begins, " . . . eager as a beaver, / steady as a yak . . . ," concluding with "tired as a zookeeper who's had a busy day" (the final illustration depicts a child cuddled up with a plethora of stuffed animals). Animals range from an owl and a lion to a clam and a moose. Between the zoology and the vocabulary, it's good for the classroom and a comforting goodnight book to boot. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews

The bold digital collages of zoo animals in this debut picture book are clear and bright, and the simple rhymes about feelings will have preschoolers savoring the words, joining in, and pointing at every playful zoo scene.

ALA Booklist

Now hear this! The art in this book will astonish Earth!

Chris Raschka