Betty & Friends: My Life at the Zoo

Actress White (If You Ask Me: (And Of Course You Won't)), a trustee of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Associate since 1974, walks down memory lane with various animal friends. Opening with the history of zoos, White explains the important transition of zoos from collecting animals to conservation. She regales the reader with brief glimpses of tigers, giraffes, whales, gorillas, and more exotic species, such as Komodo dragons%E2%80%94the largest living lizards that will attack prey larger than themselves. As a patron of zoos across America, White recalls fond memories of close encounters with animals: "I found that Gita wasn't the only elephant who liked to have her tongue slapped. I couldn't help wondering where they learned that.%E2%80%9D Some of the full color photographs throughout the book are remarkable%E2%80%93a pair of lions resting on their backs and a Nubian ibex scaling a nearly-perpendicular wall. White mentions a number of endangered species and revels in her close association with the zookeepers who work to protect and conserve them. Light reading, to say the least, this book will appeal to animal lovers. (Nov.)