Rainbow Ruler? King of the Zoo by Erica Perl

THEY SAY THE LION IS KING OF THE JUNGLE.
BUT WHO'S THE KING OF THE ZOO?

CARLOS! THAT'S WHO!

Carlos the Chameleon is a legend in his own mind. According to this self-proclaimed Master of the Menagerie, he's the coolest, the cleverest, the charming-est critter in the enclosure.

With his two little lizard henchmen, Carlos leads the way in a tour of his kingdom. But what's this? A pretender to the crown? A sign in the kangaroo's domain proclaims that he is King of the Zoo!

Carlos is so angry he turns orange with envy. In fact he's hopping mad!

In front of the monkey cage, Carlos stops and scratches his head at another insurrectional sign. Monkey? King of the Zoo? Carlos frowns and turns brown at the very thought!

The tiger's claim to rule makes Carlos growl. He stomps his foot at the elephant's proclamation of power. Everybody's getting into the act--giraffe, even an itsy-bitsy pygmy shrew! And there's that lion, at it again, lording it over everyone and claiming to be King of the Beasts. Sheesh! Carlos the Chameleon refuses to abdicate!

KING OF THE ZOO? ME. THAT'S WHO!

In her latest, King of the Zoo (Orchard Books, 2013). Erica Perl spoofs its improbable pretender to the throne, happily abetted by the jolly comedic illustrations of Jackie Urbanovic, whose delightful Duck at the Door and sassy sequels are comic portrayals of another manic menagerie, starring the duck who came to dinner and stayed and stayed and stayed. See more of the unique Urbanovic's work here.

Erica Perl is also the author of the charming and cheeky Chicken Butt!

That's Show Biz! Oh, Nuts! by Tammi Sauer

Cutesy, Blinky, and Bob lived in the zoo.

BUT... nobody paid any attention to them.

Day after day it was the same old thing.

OOH! Look at the tiger! WOW! Watch the elephant! COOL! Cheick out the Koala!

These three stripey-tailed arborial rodents are cheeky, in more ways than one. Cutesy and Blinky are frustrated exhibitionists, and come up with a variety of campaigns to make themselves the center of the zoo-goers' attention, but all of them fizzle. Finally comes the last straw!

BUT, when the sloth (zzzzZZZZZ) got groupies, they needed a plan.

Costumes? suggests Cutesy. Rock show? suggests Blinky. They swim laps faster than the piranhas, and outrace the cheetah. But all their ploys poop out. The zoo visitors keep oohing and ahing over the comatose camels and boring bears.

Then something happens. Bob, obese and mostly catatonic throughout all of his mates' attempt to steal the zoo animals' thunder, has an epiphany.

Then a miracle happened.

BOB had an idea!

"I got it," he says. And he shared the plan.

The three squeeze (not so easy for Bob) into an empty cage and morph into a zoo exhibit and find fame "Zoo Style." Behind bars, they're superstars! Local television anchors do remote spots, flashbulbs pop, and they are expecting a contract with Entertainment Now any day.

But in Tammi Sauer's latest comic romp, Oh, Nuts! (Bloomsbury, 2012), when the three modern-day Chip 'n' Dales get what they want, they don't want it. Like all jaded stars, they miss their privacy And there's another act, waiting in the wings, so to speak, The Pigeons, waiting to take over the spotlight. Dan Krall's silly cartoons are over the top in this wacky tale of menagerie mania found in this goofy giggle-getter.

Sauer's other books include Cowboy Camp
and Chicken Dance.

Showtime! Zoozical by Judy Sierra and Marc Brown

OWLS DID NOT GIVE A HOOT.
PANDAS QUIT BEING CUTE.
EVEN PENGUINS WERE SURLY.
WHEN THE ZOO GATES CLOSED EARLY!

It's wintertime and the critters at the Springfield Zoo have cabin fever. Twilight comes early, and the chilly weather keeps the sunny tropical animals inside. It's dreary at the zoo without the antics of those comical humans to amuse the critters inside. The penguins are peevish and the dingos are down in the mouth.

But there are two young critters who won't let the doldrums get them down. Little Hippo and Little Kanga have too much energy to let the winter solstice pilfer their panache, and suddenly they come up with an idea. Let's put on a show!

IT WAS SIMPLY AMAZING WHAT THE TWO FRIENDS COULD DO
WHEN THEY TAPPED AND THEY RAPPED AND THEY TWIRLED THEIR FEET.
ALL THE ANIMALS ROCKED TO THE HIP-AROO BEAT.

"WOO-HOO!" CRIED THE YOUNG KANGA.
"WE'RE SO-O-O-O MUSICAL!"
"COOL!" SAID THE HIPPO.
"LET'S PUT ON A ZOOZICAL!"

Suddenly everyone wants to get into the act. Bunnies sing "If you're hoppy and you know it...," those be-quilled hoofers break into "Oh, my darling Porcupine!" and the giraffes break into "It's a tall world after all...." Others animals shine with their own talents--monkey become tumblers and flamingos become flying aerial artists, and soon the humans return to the zoo to watch the show, with the "Zoo Hokey Pokey" as the grand finale.

WHEN TIGERS DON'T BITE,
WHEN THE DOLDRUMS TAKE FLIGHT,
ON A MAGICAL MUSICAL ZOOZICAL NIGHT.

The best-selling duo of Judy Sierra and Marc Brown (Wild About Books (Irma S and James H Black Honor for Excellence in Children's Literature (Awards)) bring back their critter crew in their latest collaboration, ZooZical (Knopf, 2011), one which sets favorite children's songs to a zoo theme and gets everyone out of their own doldrums. Sierra's simple but catchy rhymes and Marc Brown's cheery critters are as much fun as ever in this antidote to the drearies.

As Publisher's Weekly points out, "Teens have Glee, tweens have High School Musical, and with this snappy follow-up to Wild About Books younger siblings can delight in the joy of putting on a show."