The Emergency Zoo
It is 1939 and Britain is about to go to war. Twelve-year-old Tilly and her friend Rosy spend the school summer holidays making a secret den and playing with their beloved pets, a cat and a dog. To their horror, the Ministry of Home Security advises people to have their pets destroyed, fearing they will not be able to cope if Britain is bombed. Desperate to save their pets, and defying their parents, Tilly and Rosy hide them in the den. Word gets around and other children bring their pets to the hut, and the Emergency Zoo is born. But the zoo brings its own problems. The girls are about to be evacuated, and they have to find someone to care for the pets. Tilly comes up with a daring plan which might just save the animals’ lives, and with the help of Rosy and the new friends they have made from the zoo, she puts it into action.
The Emergency Zoo is based on a little-known historical event, when around 750,000 pets were destroyed at the start of the war. Tilly and her friends find themselves in a strange new world of air raid shelters, blackout blinds and barrage balloons, and they start to face the reality of what is happening to people in Germany. They befriend two Jewish refugees, and their story is told with heart-breaking clarity. There is no neat, happy ending to this story, but it does end on a hopeful note that at least a few of the many doomed pets will be safe. Europe is on the brink of tearing itself apart, but the children’s war is a smaller and more personal one. Miriam Halahmy has written a warm and touching story of friendship, courage and loyalty. A lovely and moving book. Highly recommended for 10+.
