By Rod Campbell
A child writes to the zoo for a pet, and the zoo keeps sending the wrong animal — one behind each flap to lift — until the very last crate holds a puppy that's just right.
A child has written to the zoo and asked them to send a pet. So the zoo tries. They send animals one at a time, each packed in a crate your child opens by lifting the flap. First an elephant — too big, send him back. Then a giraffe, too tall. A lion, too fierce. A snake, too scary. A monkey, too naughty. Every one goes home again because none of them will do as a pet. And then the last crate holds a puppy, just right, and the child keeps him. That's the whole book. The shape of it — guess, lift, laugh, send it back, try again — is exactly what a one-year-old wants to do again and again.
The flaps are the whole appeal. There's something for your child to do on every page instead of just sitting and listening, which is what holds a wiggly one-year-old. The pattern repeats the same way each time — an animal arrives, it won't work, try again — so it's easy to follow and easy to join, and a lot of children start calling out 'too big!' before you turn the page. Animal names, sizes, and describing words all come along for free, without it ever feeling like a lesson. And the flaps are thick board-book stock, which you'll be grateful for around the hundredth lift.