Bridge to the Wild: Behind the Scenes at the Zoo

The husband-and-wife team of O’Connell and Rodwell (A Baby Elephant in the Wild) broaden their focus from elephants to a range of animals via a tour of Zoo Atlanta. Accessible text and intimate photographs spotlight the residents and staffers at the zoo, capturing the creatures’ dispositions and distinctive appearances, as well as the dedication and compassion of the humans who care for them. Over 13 chapters, O’Connell uses a relaxed first-person narrative to explore animals’ methods of communicating with members of their own species (as well as with their keepers), social and family dynamics, behavioral differences between animals living in captivity and their counterparts in the wild, and how captive breeding programs have helped increase the population of endangered species. Sidebars and captions supply ancillary information and some fun trivia: flamingos’ pink hue comes from the beta carotene in the marine crustaceans they eat, and pandas have developed a “ ‘pseudo-thumb’ that helps them quickly shuck a bamboo shoot of its outer coating.” Readers should find the book’s facts and photos intriguing, and the collaborators’ curiosity and passion inspiring. Ages 10–12. (Aug.)