This selection of poems by award-winning poet Jonathan Edwards takes us on a guided tour of an imaginary zoo where lions, penguins, hippos and giraffes snooze, bask, stroll or (infuriatingly) hide. We encounter each creature in language that is vividly alive and full of surprise - sometimes the poems are wistful or mischievous, often they are hilarious.

The animals themselves can be delightfully knowing - aware that they are being observed and relishing being one step ahead of their human onlookers:

"... if you are very good, we'll make your day
a little later, get up, pace about
a bit, or raise our heads, offer our pink
yawns, but don't be fooled. Beneath these snores,
we think our thoughts."
- from 'Lions Asleep'

These enlivening and joyful poems capture the quirks and foibles of each individual creature, while also granting them their distinct and essential otherness.