Good Zap, Little Grog! - Hardcover

Do children on other planets keep to the same daily rituals that Earthlings follow? Wilson (Christmas Cowboy; Garage Song) suggests that some behavior is truly universal in this winsome fantasy, the title of which translates as "good night" in a world of Grogs. But that phrase doesn't occur until the conclusion; the gentle rhymes begin with sunrise ("Zoodle oop, little Grog,/ give a hug; stretch and yawn./ The night moons are fading./ There's shine on the lawn"). The little Grog looks just like a human boy?although his pets are "ooglets" and a "giant chiwanga" (something like a blue brontosaurus) peeks in the door of his igloo-like abode. Meddaugh (Martha Speaks) imagines an extraterrestrial, primitive land, placing three pink moons in its sky. Her watercolor-and-ink flying "zoofs" and mouse-tailed "froozels" flesh out the neologist's nonsense menagerie, and a two-page "Grog Guide" lets readers identify all the freaky fauna. It's brillig, yet mimsey at the same time. Ages 3-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PreSchool-Grade 2?An imaginative, oversized title with rhyming text and illustrations that are bursting with color. Three poems?"Zoodle Ooop," "Yoop Dooz," and "Good Zap"?trace a little boy's day in an alien world full of fribbets, zamblots, and zoofs. In the manner of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," the buoyant rhymes have just enough of the familiar for children to figure out the nonsense parts. The bright pictures depict a human-looking child and his mother and distinctly imaginary flora and fauna. Although there is some lack of inventiveness in the mostly two-syllable names, e.g., froozel, frullup, and floom, youngsters will surely love the strange words and rhythmic lines that beg for repetition and memorization, and will ask their parents to read the book once again before they say "good zap."?Judith Constantinides, East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.