• PARENT REVIEW
• EDUCATOR REVIEW

At the hands-on new Zoo School, where the motto is, "Let the animals be your textbooks," the student desks are actually fish-filled aquariums. The students include Ursula, who wants everything to be just like it was at her old school; Kitty, who knows a lot about animals and can't wait to learn more; sleepy Leo, who is always ready for lunch; Drake, who is terrified of animals, and is unnerved by the fish swimming in his desk; and Robin, who can't believe there's no nurse at this school, because she is used to spending half her day in the nurse's office.

THEMES: ANIMALS. FANTASY. HUMOR. TEACHERS.

At the hands-on new Zoo School, where the motto is, "Let the animals be your textbooks," the student desks are actually fish-filled aquariums. The students include Ursula, who wants everything to be just like it was at her old school; Kitty, who knows a lot about animals and can't wait to learn more; sleepy Leo, who is always ready for lunch; Drake, who is terrified of animals, and is unnerved by the fish swimming in his desk; and Robin, who can't believe there's no nurse at this school, because she is used to spending half her day in the nurse's office.

Their new teacher, zookeeper Ms. Hummingfly, has never taught actual children before, but how different could they be from animals? "If we can take care of animals, we can take care of people," she says confidently on the first day. She sets her baffled students to learning math by counting all the animals in the adjacent zoo, and how to spell hippopotamus by meeting one up close. In this breezy chapter book, all of the kids learn plenty from the animals, both curriculum-wise and for their own personal growth.

Ask your kids, "What have you learned from animals?" Introduce another extraordinary teacher with Hornik's other funny fiction book, The Secrets of Ms. Snickle's Class.

THEMES: ANIMALS. FANTASY. HUMOR. TEACHERS.