Linda Soules Releases 'So You Want To Be A Zookeeper,' a 38-Page Career Guide for Kids Ages 10–14

Author Linda Soules has released So You Want To Be A Zookeeper: A Kids' Guide to Animal Care, Wildlife Conservation, Zoo Science, and the Dedicated Keepers Who Protect Endangered Species, a 38-page illustrated nonfiction book for readers ages 10 to 14. The book is available now at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766058 (ISBN 978-1-972766-05-7). It explains what zookeepers do each day, the science behind animal care, how zoos contribute to conservation, and what a young person needs to study to enter the field. The title has already won the 2026 Purple Dragonfly Book Award (1st Place, Animals/Pets), the Mom's Choice Award Gold, and the Literary Titan Gold Book Award.

Zookeeping is one of the most commonly cited dream jobs among animal-loving children, but the work itself is rarely described to them accurately. Popular images of the profession tend to center on close encounters with animals and leave out the routines, scientific discipline and emotional demands that define the career. Children who become interested in the field often have few sources that explain the educational path, the skills employers expect, or the realities of the daily workload. Soules wrote the book to close that gap for a middle-grade audience, using the same approach she applies across her career-exploration series: present the profession as it is, and trust young readers to handle the details.

The book is organized around the actual rhythm of a keeper's day, which, as the text explains, begins well before the gates open. Readers follow the sequence of morning feeding rounds, behavioral observations recorded with scientific precision, and enrichment activities designed to challenge animals that evolved to hunt, forage and roam. The book also covers health checks, which keepers perform on animals that cannot report symptoms. Each task is presented as part of a larger responsibility: the animals depend on the keeper's attention to detail, and small observations can signal larger health or welfare concerns. The structure gives readers a working picture of the job rather than a highlight reel.

A second thread of the book focuses on the science of animal behavior. Young readers learn how keepers interpret the signals that indicate whether an animal is content, stressed, curious or unwell, and why that interpretation matters for welfare. The book also introduces the wider team that keeps a modern zoo running, including veterinarians, nutritionists, wildlife biologists and conservation specialists. Their collaboration is framed around protecting species whose habitats are disappearing in the wild. Soules describes modern zoos as conservation organizations that run breeding programs for endangered species, fund habitat preservation and contribute to research on wildlife, and she positions keepers at the center of that work.

The book also answers practical questions that readers are likely to ask. It addresses how a young person actually gets a zookeeping job, what subjects to study, and which skills matter most. It does not stop at the encouraging parts. The text covers what the work feels like when it is difficult, including the loss of an animal a keeper has cared for and the physical and emotional demands the job can place on a person. The publisher-neutral description of the book characterizes these answers as honest and specific, and the book is designed to avoid softening the realities of the profession for its audience.

Many children's books about animals and careers lean on simplified language and brief profiles. So You Want To Be A Zookeeper takes a different approach, treating its readers as capable of understanding behavioral science, conservation strategy and the emotional weight of animal care. The book is illustrated throughout, and it is built as STEM nonfiction rather than a picture-book overview. Its target range of ages 10 to 14 is also narrower than much of the children's animal category, which allows for more detailed content. The result is a title that serves both as an introduction to the profession and as a starting point for readers who want to pursue science coursework.

"Kids who love animals deserve to know what the job really involves, including the early mornings, the science, and the hard days. I won't talk down to them," said Linda Soules, Author and Creator, So You Want To Be A... series.

The book is written for several kinds of readers. The first is the child who already knows every species at the local zoo by name and wants to understand the work behind the exhibits. The second is the reader who watches the zookeeper as closely as the animals and wonders what the job feels like from the other side of the glass. Parents and teachers can use the book to start conversations about science education, since it connects a familiar career to biology, nutrition, veterinary medicine and conservation. Librarians and educators building STEM and career-exploration collections may find it useful for students beginning to consider what to study in middle and high school.

The book is available now through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766058. The listing identifies the title as So You Want To Be A Zookeeper by Linda Soules, categorized as children's nonfiction, with 38 pages and the ISBN 978-1-972766-05-7. Current pricing and available formats are shown on the product page and may change, so readers should consult the listing directly. Parents, educators and librarians who want to review the book before purchasing can use the listing's description and author information. Additional titles in the So You Want To Be A... series can be found through the author's Amazon presence.

The zookeeper title is part of the So You Want To Be A... series, which Soules created and which she envisions spanning more than 180 titles in total. More than 60 have been published to date, with new releases arriving on a steady cadence. The series covers a wide range of careers, from astronauts and marine biologists to magicians, stunt performers and roller coaster designers. The series has also been recognized with the Grand Prize in the 2026 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards and a Silver Award in Children's Nonfiction at the 2026 CIPA EVVY Book Awards. Each book follows the same premise: show the joys, the challenges and the path to a real career.

Recognition for the zookeeper volume extends across several programs. In addition to the Purple Dragonfly first-place win in the Animals/Pets category, the book received the Mom's Choice Award Gold, which honors excellence in family-oriented media, and the Literary Titan Gold Book Award. These honors place the title among the better-reviewed entries in the series and give librarians, teachers and parents an independent signal about its quality. For a reader choosing among many children's animal titles, the combination of third-party awards and the book's career-focused content distinguishes it from standard animal-facts books aimed at the same age group.

About Linda Soules and the So You Want To Be A... series: Linda Soules is the author and creator of the So You Want To Be A... series, a growing collection of career-exploration books for readers ages 10 to 14 and beyond. The series is envisioned to span more than 180 titles, with more than 60 published to date. Her stated philosophy is never to talk down to kids, on the view that young readers are smarter, more curious and more capable than publishing often assumes. Each title pulls back the curtain on a real career, covering its rewards, its difficulties and the path to get there. So You Want To Be A Zookeeper is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766058.