Cute enough fantasy about a zoo camel that finds for itself refuge in a safari park. I would have given it 3 stars, but unfortunately there's a big problem. The owner of the safari park decides to find a female camel, and winds up swapping a young gorilla for her. The thing is, there aren't enough good homes for apes, actually, and besides that, the owner broke up a family, taking the youngster away from his parents. Not to diss camels, but gorillas are close kin to humans, and are worthy of much more respect and compassion. ( )

Hezekiah is the only Bactrian camel in the zoo. He's lonely and he's sick and tired of only talking to himself. So one day, Hezekiah decides to escape from the zoo and go off to find some animals to be his pals. It's not as easy as he thinks! The first animals he runs into are the lions. Friendly enough until they let slip that they might eat him if he steps foot inside their cage. Next are the monkeys... terribly rude... And so Hezekiah continues in search of friends... maybe a nice big place to live... and maybe another camel to share his days... Will he ever find what he seeks?

A funny early chapter book that will appeal to animal lovers. The story is a bit old-fashioned, but not in a bad way. This would be a good one to hand to younger kids with higher reading levels. ( )