The paperback version, however, is bigger at around 24 cm square. The pictures themselves are nice and clear, just disappointingly small in the board book version, with the flaps being rather too small and fiddly for little fingers (the board book version measures only 17.7 x 17.8 cm, and is pictured below).

The picture and text lay-out is conveniently the same on every page, enabling you to cover the text by taking a single piece of A4 cardboard with a cut-out to reveal only the picture, which will work throughout the book. The book has plain white backgrounds throughout, with the text far enough away from the pictures that you can easily cover it if you think it would be of benefit to your child. In 2017, the 35th anniversary of Dear Zoo was celebrated through a partnership with London Zoo and the publication of an Anniversary Edition in a slipcase format.We love this book in our house, mostly because my son is obsessed with animals, but also because it lends itself so well to extending into other activities. Ī spin-off Christmas title, Dear Santa, was first published in 2004 and follows the same format, with different gifts being considered by Santa hidden under flaps.

Įnormously popular among the under 5s in Britain, the book has been translated into Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Persian, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Panjabi, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese, as well as being published in a number of formats and alongside various merchandise. He then thought of explorers sending animals to zoos years ago in crates, and hit upon the structure of each flap being a container holding a different animal. Campbell says that he was inspired by seeing other early lift-the-flap books, such as Spot the Dog, and wanted to incorporate the flaps into a story so that they made sense. Campbell Books (as it became in 1989) was sold in 1995 to Macmillan Publishers.Ĭampbell's most famous work is Dear Zoo, first published in 1982. In 1987 he founded Campbell Blackie Books in partnership with his publisher Blackie. In 1980 he became involved in children's publishing where he began designing innovative books with interactive elements and repetitive phrases. Rod Campbell (born ) is a Scottish author and illustrator of several popular children's books including the classic lift-the-flap board book Dear Zoo.īorn in Scotland in 1945, he was brought up in Zimbabwe and returned to Britain where he completed a doctorate in organic chemistry. For the SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament, see Roderick Campbell.

Dear zoo pop up book