Class Two at the Zoo

This British import is similar to Nan Bodsworth's A Nice Walk in the Jungle (Viking, 1990; o.p.). Neon cartoons accompany rhymes of varying meter as a multiethnic class investigates the chaos at a zoo. Soon, an orange-and-black anaconda with op-art eyes swallows the youngsters at an escalating pace until Molly saves the day by prying its jaws open with a stick, allowing the rest of the group to rescue the other kids, their teacher, and Joe, "a boy they didn't know." Some vocabulary and one or two unclear phrases ("they didn't see the anaconda ponder") may puzzle the younger set, but the humor on each page and the ick factor (children are slimy post-rescue) will surely tickle the fancy of most field-trip participants.