My Heart Is Like a Zoo

This is a colorful picture book exploring feelings which would be great to read in Pre-K and kindergarten. It teaches about animals and how a heart feels like them. It'd fit nicely into lessons about feelings and understanding ourselves in a community.

With digitally created art that explodes in a riot of simple color combinations, this book is sure to grab the attention of young children. Each zoo animal is depicted in only a few colors against a brightly contrasting background with sparse white text. Hearts are used extensively in each illustration.

Rhyming similes describing how "my heart is like a zoo," are both simple and inventive,

"Frightened as a rabbit, jumpy as a frog, gloomy as a lone coyote walking in the fog."

Straightforward and satisfying. This is the author's first book for children.

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With bright, bold pages and simple, rhyming text, My Heart Is Like a Zoo is certain to hold even the youngest readers’ attention. Twenty different animals are featured in this debut picture book by graphic designer Michael Hall. Delightful alliteration also appears throughout, making this book a sure hit at storytime. What the illustrations lack in detail, they make up for in charm, as every animal image is the careful composite of multiple heart shapes. While the rhymes are sometimes more convenient than they are clever (ex: “Cool as a penguin,/crafty as a fox,/quiet as a caterpillar wearing knitted socks”), the cheerful tone and silly descriptions will please young children. For ages 0-4. Recommended.

A little too gimmicky, but still so cute.  Do kids like it, or do they think it's saccharine?  I don't like zoos, either, and I don't like anthropomophizing animals to stereotypes, either.  Brave lion?  Hmm...  Fun text to read-aloud, though.  I dunno; I'm torn.  Guilty pleasure, ok if balanced with more wholesome and interesting fare?

This is a fun book full of rhyme and cute animals made out of the heart shape. It would be a fun read-aloud for preschool to first or second grade, and you could use it to talk about animals and the zoo, shapes, colors, and even have a project drawing animals with the shapes.

My Heart is Like a Zoo is a sweet book that introduces the reader to many animals and emotions. The little boy in the book describes all the different emotions he may feel using similes and animals. The animal illustrations are very beautifully done and all the animals are made of heart shapes. It may also serve as a counting book by prompting the reader to count the number of hearts that make up each animal.

I love this book. I highly recommend it to parents. For each feeling your child may experience Michael Hall uses colorful illustration to express each different emotion using animals. From "eager as a beaver" to "angry as a bear" this picture book is a brilliant conversation starter to discuss feelings, colors, shapes, and animals with young children.