MISS MOO GOES TO THE ZOO Written by Kelly Graves & Illustrated by Chauncy Guida

MISS MOO GOES TO THE ZOO Written by Kelly Graves and Illustrtated by Liisa Chauncy Guida

Publisher: Scholastic 
Pages 24
Ages: 3-8

When I picked up this book,  and saw Miss Moo's bright smiling face, I had to take a look inside. The pictures are colourful and the story is set to rhyme.

Miss Moo decides to leave the farm to find some place more exciting. She finds herself at a zoo. 

She meets some elephants who say to her, "Who are you, and what do you do?

"I am a cow," replied Miss Moo. "I give milk and I moo. Can I come and live with you?"

"Hummmpphh!" said the elephants.

"You're not special. Go away and leave us now. We don't want to live with a boring old cow!"

This makes Miss Moo very sad but she continues through the zoo meeting the giraffes and lions, being rejected each time until she meets up with the zebras who encourage her to speak to the Zoo Keeper.

By now Miss Moo's self esteem has been battered. "I'm not an elephant, big and grey. I'm not a giraffe who stretches tall every day. I'm not even a lion with a great big roar. I'm just a cow who's a bit of a bore."

The Zoo Keeper takes Miss Moo to the Petting Zoo where she is surprised to find sheep, chickens, horses and pigs. There are also children everywhere, petting and feeding the animals. 

"Miss Moo," said the zookeeper. "You're journey is at end. Stay here with us and be our friend."

When Miss Moo smiles shyly, everyone smiles back. And at last she knew what she would do. At last there was a new home - for Miss Moo.

This book is great fun! I love reading it out loud to my granddaughters, making different voices for the characters.

Throughout the story, my granddaughters and I talk about how mean the zoo animals are to Miss Moo. "Ah poor Miss Moo." they moan. The end of the story is happy and it makes up for the mean zoo animals.

ILLUSTRATOR LIISA CHAUNCY GUIDA

Liisa studied art at The Pratt Institute in New York and is from a family of professional designers and illustrators!

Her full time studio produces award winning artwork which can be found on everything from Posters, Childrens Books, Musical Albums,Fabrics, Giftwrap, Magazines and more!

When not illustrating Liisa is passionate about gardening and outdoor life on the ranch in Eagle Colorado.There she lives with her kind husband,two amazing kids,a cattle dog,250 head of Elk and every other possible animal in natures wonderful food chain! 

Liisa Chauncy Guida creates fun, whimsical illustration and art for children's books, magazines and other design publications.

To find out more about Liisa check out her site.

http://guidaart.com/profile.asp