Dear Zoo turns 30!

Last week we were invited to a lovely party to celebrate the family classic Dear Zoo turning 30 in 2012! In case you’ve never read it, it begins ‘I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet. So they sent me an…’ A series of unsuitable animals are sent by the zoo which are all sent back. Finally after thinking very hard, they send the perfect pet!

Big Brother and Little Sis put on their cleanest clothes to attend the party and had a lovely time. They listened to an amazing story teller, were given a dog made from a balloon, ate birthday cake, coloured in their favourite animals from Dear Zoo and played with the other children.

We also listened to the author Rod Campbell who did a Q&A and got our well-loved books signed by him. Little Sis has a copy of Dear Zoo Touch and Feel which she enjoys and Big Brother has the classic Dear Zoo which is well loved – Rod Campbell even pointed out we needed some sticky tape to mend the bits where the toddler has been excitedly lifting the flaps too hard!

There are lots of versions of Dear Zoo and Rod Campbell has written other books too (our favourite is Oh Dear!). We recently added the Dear Zoo iPad app to our collection which both children adore. The husband has perfected his animal noises and this story will remain a firm family favourite.