When Z, from the zoo sign, climbs down a ladder and escapes, he travels an alphabetic trek through double-paged scenes where unlikely pairing of words (one per letter) are quixotically juxtaposed: e.g., Z passes ALIEN and crosses BRIDGE (B turned sideways); on a wharf INK is spilled on the JETTY as a man KARATE kicks Z into the water. Z is an integral participant in each scene such as jumping HURDLES behind two men. Agee’s clean graphic design energizes and dramatizes the bordered pages and the last page defines each word in wrap-around lines. And when Z reaches the end of the alphabet? “Zowie, I’m home!” There’s complexity in the simplicity that should intrigue readers. The Z Is Zapped meets Chicka Chicka Boom Boom in this zany abecedarium that zips with zesty creativity. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7868-1987-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2003
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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A charmingly prolix tall tale of a boy so word-obsessed that he collects new words on slips of paper. They bulge from his pockets, float around his head and fill his world. Classmates nickname Selig “Wordsworth” and give him a word for his collection: “oddball.” The discovery that his purpose in life is to share his carefully chosen words with others leads to success and love. And, “if, one day, . . . the perfect word just seems to come to you . . . you’ll know that Selig is near.” Schotter’s words are enlivened by Potter’s distinctively naïve figures, all placed in settings in which words and labels are scattered about in a way that invites close inspection and promotes purposeful inquiry. It all adds up to an *exultant encounter, chockablock with tintinnabulating gusto (*see tantalizing glossary appended). A gift to precocious children and teachers as well. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 28, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83601-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Listeners will quickly take up the percussive chorus—“Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO”—as they follow burly Mr. Gilly, the garbage collector, on his rounds from park to pizza parlor and beyond.
Flinging cans and baskets around with ease, Mr. Gilly dances happily through streetscapes depicted with loud colors and large, blocky shapes; after a climactic visit to the dump, he roars home for a sudsy bath.
Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1995), also illustrated by Yaccarino, for sheer verbal and visual volume. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-027139-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION
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