TWO MOMS, THE ZARK, AND ME

While his moms chat with a friend in the park, the narrator (in spritely verse that emulates Dr. Seuss with somewhat mixed success) wanders into the zoo, where ``...I saw a tame Zark./The Zark is so rare,/They once thought it extinct./But the Zark seemed to like me./She saw me...and winked.'' After a friendly game of catch with the dinosaur-like Zark (the kid is the ball), he realizes he's lost; worse, the McFinks, who volunteer to help him find his parents, are horrified that they are both moms (``It's wrong! It's a Sin! Not at all how I think!/The only true family's a family like ours:/With a mom, and a dad, and two kids, and two cars''). The McFinks are about to force the unwilling boy on new parents when the Zark intervenes; and before he gets back to his own moms, he meets a nice couple who explain that ``real families come/In all forms and all sizes''—with plenty of diverse examples. Lopez debuts here with sunny colors and a dynamic cartoon style that helps propel the story as much as the witty, rhythmic text. An entertaining way to state a message that's more straightforwardly conveyed in photos of actual families in Aylette Jenness's Families: A Celebration of Diversity, Commitment and Love (1990). (Picture book. 4-8)