A veritable feast for word connoisseurs.
Can one literally eat one’s words?
ZigZag, a green-and-yellow crocodilian, loves words so much he actually tastes and feels them while playfully rolling them around in his mouth. Swivel is “slippery and slightly sour”; bulb has “a thick, purple taste.” One day he visits his friends Kit and Kat—anthropomorphic cats—and they all play with tambourines, a word whose juiciness ZigZag loves. Without thinking, he swallows the word’s five vowels; all that remains is “tmbrn.” ZigZag is heartsick to discover that thanks to his voracious appetite, every word in the world now contains only consonants. Subsequent pages hilariously demonstrate what words look like without those vital five letters. ZigZag takes quick action and manages to rescue all the vowels from family and friends—and even readers—and in alphabetical order, too. As ZigZag declares at the end, “What miraculousness!” (Note the vowels.) This cheery story about delighting in words and wordplay will appeal to readers who enjoy increasing their vocabularies and testing the sounds and feel of new terms. In an illuminating author’s note in which she invites children to play with language, Paschkis admits she “loves words.” She incorporates numerous ones in her illustrations, many containing multiple vowels; these gambol gleefully throughout her colorful, lively artwork featuring all-animal characters and intricate patterns. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A veritable feast for word connoisseurs. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781592704026
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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