This Is a Hospital, Not a Zoo! by Roberta Karim

by Roberta Karim

Filbert MacFee is having a lively time in the hospital. When Nurse Skeeter is ready to give him a shot, he turns into a thick-skinned rhinoceros! The moment he sits in an ice-cold wheelchair headed for X-ray, he becomes a penguin. Crafty Nurse Beluga outwits Filbert in all his animal transformations, but good news comes at last-Dr. Kebob! Once he stops being an orangutan, he tells Filbert he is well enough to go home. Rollicking verse, a quirky cast of characters, and Sue Truesdell's inimitably zany drawings turn a hospital stay into a reassuringly comic escapade.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

Hardcover

First published March 23, 1998

Reviews

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

so cute. i wish the illustrations were bigger because they were for sure make you smile. but i can read the text. well done. fun times. read through my local library leaning program. get to reading. bye.

[Randi Lieteau · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little too ridiculous

My 5 year old enjoyed it. But it wasn’t very consistent. It rhymed and then it didn’t. He changed after eating one animal cracker and then he was changing without eating anything. As a parent, I did not enjoy it.

[Mike Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In short, sweet story about the power of kindness.

When young McPhee finds himself in the unpleasant world of being a hospital patient, he chooses not to despair. Rather, he constructs for himself a world in which not only he, but the entire hospital staff are animals. When it is cold, he becomes a penguin. When faced with the pain of an injection, he dons the thick hide of a rhinoceros. While most of the nursing staff is tired of his "monkey business" and would have him stop his delusions, one empathetic doctor sees through his pain and meets him where he is.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute book talking about hospital stays. I didn't really see it as a social issue, but it seemed to address the issue of hospitals really well.

I liked how he changed into the other animals, and the simple perspective of it. The nurses all had interesting names. I might use this book when addressing hospital stuff.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little boy is more than ready to end his stay at a hospital. After eating some animal crackers he transforms himself in a variety of animals to keep from having more tests, shots, etc. A sympathetic doctor joins him in animal form (orangutan) and finally lets the little boy go home. Dex (4yo) really enjoyed this story.

Funny, silly illustrations.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book. My daughter wanted it read to her multiple times then would want to read parts of it and tell me what animal was next. When kids interact with books that's a good book. I wish I had some animal crackers to eat while reading this book. Illustrations are fun and any child familiar with zoo animals can understand how the main character is trying to elude the staff.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite funny, with some good characters, wish the text was more solidly repetitive though.

[Heather]

If it's a good childrens' hospital, then it would be part zoo