Last chance zoo - W J Corbett

Head keeper Ken is world-famous for never turning a difficult animal away. Ken's zoo gives a 'last chance', offering a home to all those animals whose misbehaviour or strange habits have led to their exclusion from other zoos and animal parks. But Ken and his wife (who has an uncanny resemblance to the queen) adore animals, and have collected a team of keepers who share their passion and their unusual approach to animal care.

However naughty or difficult an animal, Ken's zoo will always give them a second chance and plenty of care and understanding. Remaining forever calm, Ken is infinitely resourceful with his network of world-wide contacts - and always thrives on a crisis. With escaping tarantula spiders, tantrum-throwing elephants, rude parrots revealing keepers' secrets, spitting camels, picnic-stealing bears, the story gallops with great pace and humour from story to story, and ends with a surprise visit from the queen herself.

W.J. Corbett joined the Merchant Navy as a galley-boy when he was sixteen and saw the world. He also worked as a factory hand, furniture remover, building site labourer and dishwasher. His first book, 'The Song of Pentecost', described by Roald Dahl as 'an astonishing achievement', won the prestigious Whitbread Award. He has since been described as a 'born writer' by Auberon Waugh.

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