Where Will the Animals Stay?

Stephanie Calmenson's 1983 early reader has a premise that lands perfectly for young children: the zoo is being renovated, no one arranged temporary housing for the animals, and now the entire town has to pitch in — with predictably delightful domestic mismatches. A bear in someone's bedroom, a giraffe in someone's hallway. The community-cooperation message comes through naturally rather than being lectured, and the animal humor is the kind that reliably delights four- to eight-year-olds. Ellen Appleby's illustrations (she also illustrated the Elmo Saves Christmas Pictureback) bring warmth to the proceedings. No critical awards or formal reviews have been documented, and the book is now out of print. Worth seeking out secondhand for classroom read-alouds or library collections. Completely family-safe.