How we cite our quotes: (Stanza.Line)
Quote #1
"But if I ran the zoo," / Said young Gerald McGrew, "I'd make a few changes. / That's just what I'd do…" (2.1-4)
Young children often pretend they take the jobs of adults and make them their own. That's a given. But did McGrew need to takes the zookeeper's clothes as well? Seems a bit mean.
Quote #2
The lions and tigers and that kind of stuff / They have up here now are not quite good enough. / You see things like these in just any old zoo. (3.1-3)
Only in a child's imagination would owning a lion or tiger be ho-hum. At Shmoop, we don't even know what we'd do with a tiger in the office.
Quote #3
I'll catch'em in crannies, I'll catch'em in nooks / That you don't read about in geography books. (11.2-3)
We can't tell with McGrew here. Is it that the geography books don't have enough places for him to learn about, or is this a convenient excuse to skip geography class? Hmm…
Quote #4
For those that are ugly vicious and mean / I'll build a Bad-Animal-Catching-Machine. / It's rather expensive to build such a kit, / But with it a hunter can never get bit. (20.3-6)
How many times have you heard an adult say, "Oh, someone should totally make that!" Do kids ever say that? Nope, they just grab some cardboard boxes, duct tape, and get to work.