My name is Mark Stone. I am from Dublin. My favourite book is about Dublin Zoo.

Most boys in the class picked story books but I picked this one because I like it best of all. It has stories about animals and it has lovely colour pictures as well. I used to live in Dublin and I came to live in Tramore last September. The biggest zoo in Ireland is in Dublin, in the Phoenix Park. There are other zoos in Fota wildlife park in Cork and in Westport House, County Mayo. The Dublin zoo was founded in 1830. It is the third oldest zoo in the world, only London and Paris are older. Since it opened thousands ot people young and old have come to see all the animals at the zoo. The people in charge are always improving the place , to make life for the animals better. It costs a lot of money to run a zoo. They have to have the right food, enough space, and proper medicine in case they get sick. Most of the food has to come from outside the country because most of the animals are from far off countries. Some people do not think it is right to keep animals in zoo's. They feel animals should be allowed roam free but in certain parts of the world some animals are in danger and only for zoos they might die out and we would never see them again. The giant Panda is endangered and so is the tiger. My favourite part of the zoo is "Pet's Corner". This is where they keep animals you can see and touch like rabbits and goats and chickens. I love been at the zoo at feeding time. I really enjoy watching the seal keeper throwing the fish into the air and watching them jump up out of the water and splashing down again. I do not like snakes. The zoo is a happy place to go for a day and sometimes we bring a picnic.I keep this book beside my bed so I can read it whenever I want. I love to look at the lovely animals and read all about them. I wish I lived nearer the zoo but it is a long way from Tramore