Today’s guest post is by Kirsty Laschinger, who got in touch with us to share the story of her daughter’s Zoe’s Rescue Zoo-themed birthday party.
“So Zoë,” I carefully asked one Saturday afternoon, “What birthday party theme do you want?”
Please, please do not let your answer include the words “Frozen”, “Elsa” or “Anna”, I thought to myself.
So imagine my delighted surprise when the answer was: “A Zoe’s Rescue Zoo Party.”
Our Zoë has loved the Zoe Rescue Zoo books since we first read the The Lonely Lion Cub together in 2014 and not only because the common name “clearly” made the story all about her. We were currently devouring a chapter of The Wild Wolf Pup each evening before bed time, so it was easy to see why it was top of mind for her.
It took about 24 hours before my elation dissolved into horror. How on earth do I make a Zoe Rescue Zoo cake? What are we going to do during the party?
A few deep breathes and not-too-much-sleep nights later I thought I had the beginnings of a plan…
At last the morning arrived. Happily both Mr Pinch, the mean keeper in the series, and the Johannesburg rain both stayed away and several highly excited girls and a sprinkling of boys kicked off the party with a high speed game of Pass the Parcel. The winner found a copy of “Zoe’s Rescue Zoo: The Playful Panda” hidden under the last layer of wrapping paper.
Then the mobile zoo made its grand entrance. My sister had seen the mobile zoo at a kids function last year, and it was indeed the first time I had heard of one that is not a petting zoo with more traditional farm animals.
Sadly there were no seal pups, elephants, snow leopards, polar bears, penguins or even elephants. But, instead, there were a Kiki the macaw and Meep the lemur look-alikes as well as an array of other exotic, cute, scary and outright terrifying animals.
First, there was a hedgehog and each child (and the more curious adults) were given the opportunity to pat it, finding it more silky than spiky. This was followed by an array of hamsters, chameleons and birds before a chinchilla made a show-stopping entrance. It was, without doubt, the hit of the party.
Things got even more interesting after that. The cooing turned to screams as a tarantula stalked down the zoo keeper’s shirt and at least the party girl made her escape when the Burmese python appeared. The fear turned back to fun with the appearance of a tortoise, followed by a terrapin.
The show was a wonderful combination of education (don’t touch a terrapin shell as it is coated in salmonella), environmental awareness (don’t buy tortoises or other endangered species for pets as it just encourages their hunters to plunder their numbers further) and fun.
The party flew by and there was just enough time to light the candles, sing happy birthday and cut the cake before it was all over. I’m happy to report that Uncle Horace’s fondant hot air balloon made it through the morning in more or less one piece. And there was a very happy newly-six-year old girl who hugely enjoyed her special Zoe Rescue Zoo Party. Thank you Nosy Crow, Amelia Cobb and Sophy Williams for these wonderful books.
Thank you, Kirsty! You can take a look inside the first book in the Zoe’s Rescue Zoo series, The Lonely Lion Cub, below:
