Title: The Zoomers’ Handbook
Author: Ana de Moraes
Illustrator: Thiago de Moraes
Age Group: 3-7
Synopsis: A handy guide to taking care of humorous, mythical creatures.
The Low Down:
I love being quirky, silly, and goofy. If you’re describing someone who’s lovably eccentric, then please be describing me. So, when I find a book that meets this same criteria, I instantly feel a familiar connection. That’s why I grabbed The Zoomers’ Handbook. The quirkiness speaks to me, along with the dry snarkiness that seeps from the pages.
Zoomers isn’t a story, it’s a catalogue of the differences between a Zoomer’s animals and those of a farmer or zookeeper. Take the dogephant, a playful creature that you don’t really want to play with, as you’re bound to get squashed. There’s also a goatrilla who’ll eat up to 10 cans of bananas a day (they love metal) and may eat the can opener too. Bug’s a little young to understand the humor behind them but he enjoyed sampling the ice cream made by the polar cow and watching the letters bounce along the page. It was a nice touch to enhance the illustrations of the ever-bounding duckaroo.
The illustrations are intentionally simple and academic, adding to the satire and amusement of the entire book. With the creatures acting extremely cheerful, glum, or dense it reminds the reader of documentary, which is the whole point. These creatures absolutely embody both animals from which they derive and at the same time steal your heart. How can you not love the adorably daft goatrilla? Or the stripy shiger who lounges near a ball of stripy yarn and a pair of knitting needles? The endpapers complete the entire effect, listing tools and field notes that zoomers would find most handy.
Story Tips:
- You must study the endpapers they are so fun to look at and add fun bits to the book.
I need more!
Zoomers is Ana and Thaigo de Moraes’ first foray into the world of picture books and hopefully not their last.
Add to my library:
UK Amazon: The Zoomers’ Handbook
US Amazon: The Zoomers’ Handbook
