BIG CHANGES FOR PLUM!

Plum returns for another adventure at the Athensville Zoo, along with some craftily conveyed life lessons.

The fifth and final title in this series finds the perennially peppy peacock facing his biggest challenge yet: He’s been nominated to lead the peafowl flock, because of his “courage, wisdom, responsibility, loyalty…and above all else, a true and caring heart.” Plum’s one condition for accepting is that he have a co-leader (his best friend, Meg, of course), which introduces a key theme: Some traditions should change. Complications develop: first, demolition of the dangerously decrepit old zoo monorail. More perturbing still, the zoo is closing for renovations. Plum frets through the night, and he isn’t reassured by vague warnings from zookeeper Lizzie (cued Latine in previous titles) that more big changes are in store. Plum and Meg believe that the reconstruction will include the removal of their home, the Great Tree, and the relocation of the flock. Scary! Soon, many animals are in temporary quarters, and others have just disappeared. The arrival of—gasp!—a petting zoo and a robot who will usurp Plum’s guide job ramps up the threat. Subtle humor and snappy repartee distinguish this book. Short chapters speed by as the tension builds. Will Plum save the zoo? Should Plum save the zoo? And could it be that sometimes it’s better to embrace change than to angst over it? Pen-and-wash images add zest.

A lively tale with an important warning: Worrying is often wasted on things that won’t happen.