ZigZag

Paschkis (The Barking Ballad) plays with language and image in this sensory fantasy starring a word-swallowing alligator. ZigZag, rendered with a delicate ink filigree and calligraphically hatched scales, experiences words synesthetically: "Swivel was slippery and slightly sour," while "Bulb had a thick, purple taste." Though he's previously partaken of vowel multiples, trouble arises when ZigZag encounters, and impulsively swallows, tambourine, "and all of the vowels--a, e, i, o, u--with it." The protagonist's linguistic world is suddenly reduced to consonants ("A tasteless, dull tmbrn was all that remained in his mouth"), and ZigZag must reassemble the vowels in order to reconstitute their use. Collecting an a from the "A-a-a-a-ah" his grandmother utters when he scratches her back, and an e from a rat's "Squ-e-e-e-e-k," he takes pleasure as words become available to him again ("He ate a tart apple and beamed"). Gracefully wrought flowers and fruit give each image the feel of a stately tableau in this perception-oriented picture book exploration of words. An author's note concludes. Ages 3--7. (Sept.)

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) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.