Florian, D.  (2005).  Zoo’s who.  New York, NY:  Harcourt.  ISBN 0-15-204639-9

Douglas Florian began writing poetry in 1994 and has since received the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for his book Beast Feast and the Claudia Lewis Award for Mammalabilia.  His poetry often focuses on animals as do the pieces in Zoo’s Who.  These poems, while extremely short (most are no longer than 4 lines each), have wonderful rhythm and rhyme, and children who are a little older will love the word plays and puns, such as the one found in this clever little poem:

            The Eagle

            I’m not a seagull.

            I’m royal.

            I’m regal.

            All birds are not

            Created eagle.

There are poems that challenge and stretch the language of the reader, even big readers like me.  See if you can decipher the words in this poem:

            The Penguin

            A penguin isn’t thin – it’s fat.

            It has penguinsulation.

            And it toboggans through the snow

            On Penguinter vacation.

            The penguin’s a penguinsome bird

            Of black-and-white fine feather.

            And it will huddle with its friends

            In cold, penguindy weather.

Some of the poems in this book are almost concrete poems – taking the shape of the topic.  Read “The Terns” to students.  The four lines are written in the shape of a square, starting at the top left.  Discuss the word play of the word “tern.”  Then have students try their hand at writing a poem with a shape that illustrates the topic.  

"The Terns.  Terns turn left, and terns turn right. / Terns take turns at learning flight. / Terns, in turn, learn from each other. / One good tern deserves another." 

Florian did the art for the poems as well, using a variety of materials.  The pictures are full-page pictures on the facing page of the poem and are very intriguing, inviting a second or even third look.  While the main illustration for each poem is a watercolor painting of the featured animal, other shapes and letters are stamped onto the page.  Bits of shredded paper with words and letters on them are glued onto many of the pages along with other bits of paper, tin foil, and candy wrappers.  Exploring the content of the pictures is as much fun as reading the poetry. 

Florian is a new poet for me.  I haven’t ever read any of his work before; however, the content of this book has both my grandson and me interested in finding more of his work.  Animals are a universally interesting topic for young children, and this volume is no exception.