By Lois Ehlert - Color Zoo (Brdbk) (2/23/97) Hardcover – February 23, 1997

Unlike some other reviewers, I'm not concerned with whether or not my baby can recognize the abstract animals in the shapes. Baby is too young to care about anything other than the bright colors and the ability to flip and pound pages, so I am at the moment choosing books that appeal to myself… I figure I'll have years of reading baby books that I don't care for, so I'll take what I can get now.Although the animals are too abstract even for me to differentiate between the various whiskered ones (which is a tiger and which is a mouse is a bit arbitrary), I appreciate the clever use of shapes and cutouts to build animals upon each other. I also like that there's not very much text, for days when either one of us isn't feeling too much like reading or being read to.I do think this will be a good book for learning colors and shapes, as those are all very clear.

My 13 month old isn't quite interested in this one as much as I am, to be honest! The animal faces are abstract, but the value is in the shapes that make up the layers of the 3 sets of animals. When you turn the page, the most recent shape is shown on the left page, and the next animal face is shown on the right. I'm hoping baby will enjoy this more in a few months or year from now.

I bought this as a gift for a very young person-- actually for her grandmother. This to me is an unheralded classic and a book which should be in every toddler's bookshelf. Ehlert's work is brilliant in its simplicity. This book has cut outs which reveal different animals and you open the pages. The brilliance is that the cut outs are various geometic shapes and colors. So the child is being taught not only shapes, colors, and animals, but new ways of viewing and creating art using these basic shapes and colors. I also highly recommend Growing Vegetable Soup and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

This is a great book for learning about shapes, colors and animals. The cut-outs in the pages that change the animal shown on each page are really clever and add an element of peek-a-boo for little readers. The bright colors and simple shapes plus the simple text ("rectangle", "ox") really make this a good book for self-exploration by babies and toddlers, although it is fun and interactive when adults read it to babies as well. This is a classic every little library should have.

My daughter (who is only one) loves to flip through this book and look at the different colors and shapes. Because each page has a shape cut out of it, this makes the pages easy for her to grasp and flip. Out of all of her board books, I find myself reaching for his one time and time again because it occupies her the longest. In contrast to some books that she will barely look at and others she will look at only with my direction, this book is one that she will find all on her own and quietly flip through the pages.Even for me, I find the concept simple but mesmerizing. There is something fascinating about looking at the shape and seeing how the animal changes into a different animal as you flip the page. It makes you think about shapes and colors in a very abstract way.I would definitely recommend this book as a foundational block in any young child's library. The book itself is sturdy and the colors are bold and vivid. It's a great concept that's been executed effectively.

Not a huge fan. We got this book to go along with a home school program and some of the animals are hard for a child to recognize. Especially the monkey. We still use it - but it's not very exciting for my 3 kids (5 and under).

My kids love this book! Teaches shapes and animals simultaneously.

My 6 month old has loved this book and Color Farm basically since he was born. We read to him a lot, but if he is ever complaining about other books, this is the stand-by. He is enamored by the shapes and colors!