Ah, today the Bingo selector (that’s me pulling titles out of a box, by the way) has drawn the first of one of our giveaway titles: Always Lots of Heinies at the Zoo written by Ayun Halliday and illustrated by Dan Santat. Mr. Santat will be showing us his workspace at the end of the month, but if you’d like to learn more about him now here is his website.

This is one of my favorite picture books illustrated by Dan Santat (why I picked it as a giveaway). This partly has to do with my fondness for the word heinie. It just sounds funny, for one. But it’s also a word I remember my Grandpa Vernie saying a lot. Sometimes he’d substitute it for honey as in “Heinie, could you pass the salt?” or “Would you like some heinie on your toast?” That one never failed to get me giggling when I was a kid.

The title makes this book pretty self-explanatory–it’s about heinies at the zoo. The text and illustrations blend to make a very funny simple story, perfect for children young and old who giggle at the word heinie. Here’s a little taste of the text:

“From the feathered booty of the cockatoo
To the hairy haunches of the caribou
Some are smooth
And some are shiny
Some are swimming in the briny
No one tries to hide his heinie at the zoo.”