We bought a zoo /

When writer Mee's father died, his mother needed to sell the house and move to a smaller place so the entire family decided to buy a zoo. Mee's sister had seen an advertisement for the sale of the Dartmoor Wildlife Park, a small zoo in Devonshire in the southwest of England. After a long series of negotiations, licensing snafus, and the inevitable family conflicts, the author, his mother, and his brother moved into the park's rundown house and started running a zoo. Though they owned the grounds and its 200 animals outright, they still had to pay 20 staff members, feed the animals, and upgrade the grounds. During the first week, a jaguar escaped, and the author and his brother began to realize what they'd gotten themselves into. Through eradicating the plague of rats, clearing out years of rubbish to reveal usable buildings, and battling with banks for operating expenses, the author and his staff gradually pulled the zoo back from the brink of closure. The emotional appeal of the zoo's rescue is wonderfully limned in Mee's practical, good-humored prose.--Bent, Nancy Copyright 2008 Booklist

Between his wife Katherine's diagnosis of glioblastoma and her quiet death less than three years later, Mee (The Call of DIY), his siblings and his mother bought a bedraggled zoo, complete with decaying buildings, a ragtag group of animals, an eclectic staff and a reputation that had been quickly going to the wolves. In this occasionally charming (to his children: Quiet. Daddy's trying to buy a zoo) but overly wordy book, Mee writes about caring for his dying wife and their two young children, dealing with Code Red emergencies (when a dangerous animal escapes its confines), hiring staff, learning about his new two- and four-footed charges and setting his sights on refurbishing his zoo into a sanctuary for breeding and raising endangered animals. Mee tends to meander with too-long explanations for one-sentence points, and the awe he feels about each individual animal is repetitive. Coupled with Britishisms that are never explained and a curious lack of varied wild animal stories, this book that was obviously meant to make animal lovers roar with pleasure will only make them whine with frustration. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.

Following the death of his father, Mee took on the challenge of helping his 76-year-old mother find a new home. This relatively simple task resulted in life-altering, unexpected outcomes, not the least of which was taking on the responsibility of owning and renovating a dilapidated zoo in rural England. Mee has a strong interest in animal behavior and was trained as a science journalist, which influenced his decision to move his family to a run down 30-acre zoo complete with animals. Readers will delight in his anecdotes, most notably about escapees Sovereign the jaguar and Parker the wolf, who attracted a fair share of media attention and antizoo feeling from the public. While the Mee family dream was coming to fruition, Mee's wife, Katherine, suffered from the return of a brain tumor and died before the zoo was restored and reopened. The author's touching description of this tragedy stands in contrast to his otherwise conversational tone and the humorous events depicted in the book. The Dartmoor Zoological Park now attracts thousands of visitors annually. This engaging adventure will appeal to animal lovers and is recommended for public libraries.--Edell M. Schaefer, Brookfield P.L., WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Erstwhile newspaper columnist wagers all, and then some, by talking his extended family into taking a flyer on their very own zoo. Writing a do-it-yourself column did not exactly qualify British journalist Mee (The Call of DIY, 2005) to take over a fading small zoo in the southwestern English town of Dartmoor. Neither did his university degree in psychology coupled with years of studying animal behavior, but at least that background helped him make up his mind. Mee convinced older brother Duncan to give up his London job, and their recently widowed 76-year-old mother yielded to his exhortations to sell the valuable family home, thus enabling the zoo purchase. He also had the sometimes strained support of wife Katherine, a graphic designer and brain-tumor survivor, and their two small children. His memoir principally recalls the events from October 2006, when they took possession of the zoo and rechristened it the Dartmoor Zoological Park, until the next July, when it was reopened. Mee's initial underestimation of rehabilitation and operating costs meant a massive effort to secure additional financing. Then there were the vicissitudes of hiring and firing zoo help: again, not a game for the inexperienced. Yet, the process of getting to know the park's 200 animals, from flamingoes and monkeys to wolves, lions, bears and jaguars, and of securing their care in the best possible captive environment, provided many heartwarming and heartbreaking moments. Tragedy intervened when Katherine's tumor reappeared and proved ultimately fatal, but Mee fought through personal grief to bring the park to a successful reopening. Replete with wry British perspective and facile rendering of the sights, sounds and smells only zoos can provide. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.