We Bought a Zoo (2008)

I loved the idea of this book, I was enchanted with the title and looked forward to reading it.
It was readable but I guess I expected better. The prose was a bit amateur and I was surprised at the rather poor selection and number of photos. There was so much there, it should have been better. I wonder if he wasn't just in a bit of a hurry to coincide with the tv series?
I would love to see a re-write of this with new adventures and more photos. ( )

Great writing. I found myself laughing many times as well as grieving with the writer. ( )

Listened to from December 28, 2011 to January 03, 2012

Audiobook Review - Here's the thing, I almost wish I had read this instead of listened because I kept wanting to look up pictures of the animals mentioned or of the zoo iteself. (And now that I have, I'm frustrated by the lack of pictures with descriptions on the DZP website!)

Despite that, this is a great story about the Mee family and how they randomly decided to buy a zoo. I've never been an audiobook listener, and I'm still under 10 book when it comes to my total listening, but I liked this one. It's quite uplifting to read about a family that overcomes incredible odds to achieve their dream. But it isn't all happy, at one point I was sobbing in my car...just a warning. ( )

There are three main stories in this book: what it was like for Benjamin Mee and his family to buy a zoo, what it was like being a zoo director, and what it was like slowly losing Benjamin's wife, Katherine. All of the stories are somewhat interesting, but the story of running a zoo was the most fascinating to me personally. Though I have my own personal questions about zoo conservation (based partially on thoughts from Big Cat Rescue), I thought Benjamin Mee shared a fascinating story with a lot of insights into animals. My biggest complaint is actually that the website doesn't do enough to bridge the gap between when the story ended and where the zoo is now. ( )

Another book where I had seen the movie first.

Here though the story was much more compelling than the movie was and it was a shame that they transplanted the true tale from England to California. The makers of the movie though did take liberties to make the tale more friendly to audience and children, than Mee, telling the truth of his life, did.

But as an adult, able to read and understand the author's journey, this is a story worth the read, just as watching the movie, with this additional understanding makes the movie an enjoyment to be renewed time and again.

There are moments that perhaps should have been further developed, and the writers style may have needed polish in places. Some moments perhaps could have been cut if length was an issue to give more space to others. And perhaps even charts and a map of the Dartmoor Wildlife Park would have been helpful to augment the story.

Still, reading the story and the sense that the Mee's saved so many animals and help to extend their lives by doing so, is an uplifting story, one that all will enjoy. ( )