Kid Guides: Zoos

MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School, Binghamton, NY -- School Library Journal, 8/28/2008

Kid Guides: Zoos. DVD. 1:50 hrs. Prod. by Echo Entertainment. Dist. by Janson Media (janson.com). 2007. ISBN 978-1-56839-296-6. $19.95.  

Gr 1-6–Tour three of the country’s most exciting zoos with Matt and Brittney and go behind the scenes to share amazing experiences with the animals. Some creatures are featured only briefly, while more in-depth information is presented about others through the young hosts’ comments and conversations with zoo keepers. Each zoo tour is a separate segment, and there are frequent breaks to allow the film to be stopped and restarted. At the end of each segment, one creature is examined in the “Explorer’s Corner” and another is featured in “Star of the Week.” Matt and Brittney begin at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, where they learn how pandas and elephants are cared for, see how keepers handle venomous snakes, learn about poison dart frogs, and visit many more animals. At the top-rated St. Louis Zoo, which is so large that it is toured in two segments, Brittney participates in the sea lion show, and the youngsters learn about great apes and penguins, feed lorikeets and otters, and set newly hatched butterflies free in the Insectarium. Viewers watch an elephant paint, learn about gorillas and animals of the Wild West, and look on as Matt and Brittney feed giraffes and birds at the Ft. Worth Zoo in Texas. The opportunities that the children have to interact with the zoo personnel and the wealth of information provided makes this lively program almost as much fun as an actual visit to these zoos.