Dear Zoo

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A letter to the zoo asking for a pet results in a succession being dispatched – all of the deliveries containing highly unsuitable pets! All, of course, except the last one…

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• Write one of the letters sent to the zoo, asking for one of the animals.
• Write a letter from the zoo, accompanying one of the animals when it was sent.
• The book contains lots of adjectives. Look at photos of each animal and think of other adjectives to describe them.
• Could you write a sequel to the book, which involves someone asking for something but each time they receive a gift, there is something ‘wrong’ with it?

Maths

• Investigate volume and the amount of space needed to transport animals of different sizes.
• Find out how much each different animal needs to eat in a day. How much might this cost?

Science

• Try to find out information about each animal. Where does it live? What does it eat? What does a zookeeper need to do to look after it.
• Find out about the final animal that was sent by the zoo. Make a poster to teach others how to look after it.

Design Technology

• Make your own pop-up book with animals hidden under the flaps.

Music

• Sing along with this musical version of the book:

Geography

• Investigate which parts of the world each type of animal lives. Could you plot them on a map?

History

• The book was first published in 1982. Can you find other books which were published at a similar time? What was life like in 1982? How have things changed?
• Parents / older brothers and sisters might have read this book when they were young. Interview them and find out what other books they remember from their childhood.

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