Zoo by Anthony Browne

Mum and Dad take their two boys to the zoo for a day; maybe based on a similar family outing from the author's own childhood. This story is narrated by the older of the two boys.

The text tells of a typical family outing - Dad gets impatient with the traffic, the children fight in the car, Dad moans about the cost of the entrance fee and the boys winge until they are fed. It
is the realistic illustrations, hallmark Anthony Browne that give the excitement and interest. Notice the strange characters in the crowd, many showing an uncanny resemblance to the caged animals such as a girl with reptilian feet, a man with a lion's tail, a business man with a pig's head and a woman with antlers.

At the end of the day Mum comments, "I don't think the zoo really is for animals... I think it's for people" and we can look at the pictures and wonder if animals should be caged or flying free as the geese Browne draws in the final picture. Throughout the book Browne challenges us to ask who is looking in through the bars of the zoo cages and who is looking out?

Although this book is told from the point of view of a primary school child, through addressing a wider issue it may be read at many different levels by an older audience.