The Lending Zoo

by Frank Asch, Frank Asch (Illustrator)

Overview

From the beloved author of the Moonbear series, Frank Asch, comes a charming new picture book about a ‘zoo-brary’ that accidentally loses track of a tiger!

Miss Perkins is happy to be the ‘zoo-brarian’ at The Lending Zoo, a ‘zoo-brary’ that lends out all types of animals—from massive elephants to majestic giraffes. Everything usually goes smoothly: water buffaloes, snakes, parrots, and more are checked out and returned without a problem. But one sunny day Pancake, the tiger, goes missing and Miss Perkins along with her new friend Molly must go on a citywide search to find him! Will they be able to track him down before he causes a commotion all over town?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442466791
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	04/18/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Frank Asch (1946–2022) was a graduate of Cooper Union, and wrote and illustrated more than eighty children’s books, among them the bestselling classics featuring Moonbear and Baby Bear, Russian National Bestseller Award recipient Here Comes the Cat!, and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Golden Award winner Like a Windy Day. Mr. Asch lived in Hawaii with his family.

Frank Asch (1946–2022) was a graduate of Cooper Union, and wrote and illustrated more than eighty children’s books, among them the bestselling classics featuring Moonbear and Baby Bear, Russian National Bestseller Award recipient Here Comes the Cat!, and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Golden Award winner Like a Windy Day. Mr. Asch lived in Hawaii with his family.

Editorial Reviews

Young readers will enjoy following Pancake’s pawprints across the pages as Miss Perkins tracks him down, and the concept of a lending zoo is sure to tickle the fancy of many.

3/15/16 - Booklist

Young readers will enjoy following Pancake’s pawprints across the pages as Miss Perkins tracks him down, and the concept of a lending zoo is sure to tickle the fancy of many.

3/15/16 - Booklist

02/01/2016
Yes, it works just like a library does: patrons check out real zoo animals to take home. It’s a terrific idea, but Asch (the Moonbear series) opts for a plot that dampens the possibilities rather than amplifies them. His focus is on a chase involving an escaped tiger, Pancake, and his pursuers, “zoobrarian” Miss Perkins and new patron Molly. The elegantly patterned Pancake exudes an intriguing sense of self-possession, and there’s a brief, shining moment when he gives Miss Perkins a dignified and heartfelt hug. But the illustrations’ visual and emotional flatness leeches out much of the whimsy, even when Miss Perkins and Molly zoom over the city rooftops on a motor scooter as Pancake serenely walks past them on a building below. The story wraps up with the narrative equivalent of a shrug: Pancake turns up back where he belongs, prompting the zookeeper to declare, “I guess he just needed some fresh air and exercise!” Lending Zoo posters seen throughout the book (“Take Home a Toucan Today”) give readers a glimpse at what might have been. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

02/01/2016
PreS-K—Instead of a book, check out an animal. Miss Perkins, the Zoobrarian, will help you find the right one. The available creatures are not necessarily small or domesticated. Among the choices are an elephant and a bear. The concept of borrowing wild animals is intriguing, but the story itself is rather tame. Pancake the tiger is missing. Miss Perkins and Molly, a young would-be patron, follow a trail of wet footprints that leads them all over town. The mystery of the animal's disappearance is solved when Pancake simply returns to the Lending Zoo; apparently he wanted nothing more than some fresh air and exercise. Flat, opaque pastel-colored illustrations are appealing and suit the cheerful fantasy setting. VERDICT Older children may want more action, but preschoolers will enjoy a visit to this unusual zoo.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA

School Library Journal

2016-02-02
Readers get a peek at what it would be like to visit a library that lends animals to patrons. Sunny Miss Perkins is the librarian who works at the checkout desk, and Mr. Woozel is the zookeeper (both are white). On this particular day, there's a crisis at the Lending Zoo: the tiger, Pancake, won't eat his breakfast. When Miss Perkins, followed by Molly, a curious new black patron who was next in line, investigates, Pancake is missing. Eagle-eyed Molly spies the big cat's tracks, and she and Miss Perkins are off to follow them on Miss Perkins' motor scooter. The child's parents are never seen, and Miss Perkins seems to think nothing of toting the young girl all over town on the back of her scooter (they do sport helmets), even jumping the gap between the roofs of two three-story buildings. Observant readers will be able to spy the runaway tiger, though the librarian and her charge do not catch up to him until he returns on his own to the Lending Zoo. And it turns out that Molly had been wanting to check out a tiger, so he'll have more adventures. Asch's digital illustrations are an odd mix—the animals are fairly finely detailed, but the rest of the pictures have the crisp, matte look of his pre-digital work. The humans' facial expressions are strangely static, considering the amazing premise. A cool idea poorly executed. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews