Really Raoulino Book

Animal Incognitum reads the sign over Raoulino's cage at the Metropolitan Zoo. That means no one knows what kind of animal Raoulino is, least of all Raoulino. He does know that he wants to go home home to the wonderful little island where he was captured. And his neighbors in the zoo, the cobra and the chuckwalla and the lizard in the next cage, dream of going back to their respective homes. Has any animal (to say nothing of four at one time) ever escaped from the Metropolitan Zoo? There are those who might say it couldn't be done, but where a touch of magic is involved, anything is possible!

In a heart stopping, thrill-a-minute fantasy adventure, Raoulino and his friends discover that while who you are is important, it is what is in your heart that really counts.

Suzanna E. Henshon, Ph.D. - Children's Literature

No one at the Metropolitan Zoo knows what kind of animal Raoulino is, not even Raoulino. Is he a reptile? A lizard? A dragon? He wants to go home, and he is miserable being locked up in the same cage as a cobra. Soon Raoulino is determined to escape. His new friends (a cobra, a lizard, and a chuckwalla) become his partners-in-crime and they do escape from the zoo. But what happens next? How will they survive in a city filled with traffic and fast-moving vehicles? After escaping the zoo gates, the quad of friends must make their way back to Maine, Arizona, India, and the tropical island of Raoulino's youth. Young readers will enjoy following the escapades of these exotic animals and seeing Raoulino return home to rediscover the nest he was born in and his dragonhood for the first time. Bill Crews' drawings add a touch of humor to Dina Fischbein's first novel, which is destined to fly off bookshelves and into the imaginations of young readers. 2006, Handprint Books, Ages 8 to 12.