WELCOME TO THE ZOO!

Animal characters strive to get along and be true to themselves in Smith’s collection of short stories for children.

In the opening tale, “Leo is Missing,” forest animals worry over the inexplicably absent king of the jungle. An unlikely team, including a badger, a tiger, and a relatively clueless rabbit, forms to track down Leo. Each of this book’s 30 stories features an array of beasts, ranging from barnyard animals to sea creatures to domesticated pets. They’re anthropomorphic—every character talks and engages in typically human activities such as playing poker, singing at a royal wedding, or competing in a curling tournament. The author has presumably tailored this material for children, notwithstanding a few questionable bits (“The Casino” features gambling, cocktails, and potential cheaters suffering physical intimidation). The majority of the stories, however, teem with positive messages: There are Jewish animals who celebrate the Passover and animals in Africa who recognize Ramadan, the Muslim period of fasting. Others simply crave acceptance, like Rex, a gay whale who’s anxious about coming out to his friends and family, and a North American black bear who faces prejudice based on the color of his fur. Smith deftly handles sensitive topics, including school bullying in “Animal Kingdom Elementary” and the death of a loved one in “Grief and Loss” (“they could finally focus on moving forward together while keeping alive memories of their beloved matriarch, who had served them well until her final breath”). But there’s plenty of fun as well; in “Easter Egg Hunt,” Bunny helps an old friend, Mr. Squirrel, get mischievous revenge on humans, who ruined last year’s egg hunt for the animals.

Smith fills the pages with a wonderful assortment of nonhuman characters, depicting birds, deer, elephants, snakes, sloths, octopi, and many more from the animal kingdom. The tales are jam-packed with memorable moments like a raccoon DJing at a party, Marty the fox pulling off breakdance moves, and forest critters telling scary stories around a campfire. The narratives celebrate all that nature and the animal kingdom have to offer: “Ribbit Ribbit” spotlights a frogs’ “choir of croaks,” and the collection’s serene final story, “Good Night Dear Friends,” looks in on a series of animals snuggling down in their natural habitats. The author delivers sublimely concise stories, which are all (with one exception) broken up into short, easy-to-read chapters. Unfortunately, there’s some repetition among them—several plots involve hunts for missing individuals or things, there are two tales about escaping a zoo, and the transgendered sheep Gwendolyn’s dilemma is similar to Rex’s. The same names pop up in multiple stories, including Bubbles (dog and butterfly); Benny (badger, rabbit, and beaver); and Ruby (rabbit, raccoon, and snake). While the stories hit on myriad topics, one notably recurring theme is the notion of community; in so many instances, these animals help each other, band together for a common cause, or fight to protect their homes and one another. The result is a consistently uplifting collection filled with generally good-natured characters that will leave most readers feeling buoyant and eager to peruse the contents again.

Charming creatures headline an assemblage of zestful, enriching, and wholly absorbing tales.