A young girl faces her fears in Fraidyzoo, an award-winning picture book from the author/illustrator of Alfie and How Do You Dance?
An ALA/ALSC Notable Children’s Book
Today is the perfect day for the zoo! But Little T is afraid to go. The only trouble is, she can’t remember what scared her at the zoo the last time. To help her remember, her mom, dad, and sister come up with an ingeniously creative solution: In a flurry of bubble wrap, umbrellas, water bottles, salad tongs, a mop, a vacuum cleaner, and much, much more, her family brings to life an astounding parade of zoo animals—in alphabetical order! Can you guess which animals the family is acting out? And can Little T stop feeling like such a “fraidyzoo”?
In this charming and witty picture book, award-winning author/illustrator Thyra Heder honors the bravery it takes to face your fears, and the loving people who help you do so.
“Heder comes up with a wildly imaginative idea for an alphabet book/animal guessing game, elaborates it with smartly drafted ink-and-watercolor spreads, and seasons it with plenty of family warmth and hullaballoo.” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Praise
**STARRED REVIEW**Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"WARNING: Expect riotous buffoonery after reading this clever and original alphabet story, as kids will definitely want to 'parrot' the examples."
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**STARRED REVIEW**Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Heder comes up with a wildly imaginative idea for an alphabet book/animal guessing game, elaborates it with smartly drafted ink-and-watercolor spreads, and seasons it with plenty of family warmth and hullaballoo."
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"The cut-and-paste, handmade look and feel of this picture book underscores its thematic ode to creative problem solving... The charming, detailed watercolor and ink illustrations really tell the story, and children will relish poring over them to guess the animal costumes and identify their construction materials."School Library Journal
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"Heder tells a child-relevant story about facing your fears with a light hand and zippy prose, but it’s her art that dials the zippiness up to 11, as her warm and humorously realistic figures gallivant alongside some remarkably envisioned handcrafted animal puppets."Booklist
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"This book does the impossible, taking one of the oldest children’s book conventions, the zoo alphabet, and completely reinventing it. It’s a story about a family helping one of their own overcome fear by being utterly silly and completely loving. The whole thing is done with such a confident and lively style, it’s hard to believe that this is Heder’s first picture book. Fraidyzoo is funny, original, and announces Heder as a force to be reckoned with."The Atlantic Wire
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"Illustrations capture the empathy of a very concerned, loving, and creative family."Library Media Connection
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