The Z Was Zapped: A Play in Twenty-Six Acts

This is an extremely interesting take on your average alphabet book. It has a very sophisticated and mature feel for a subject matter intended for early readers, which means that it can appeal as much to the adults reading it as the children listening. Even though Van Allsburg uses large words, he does a beautiful job illustrating their meaning in each picture, so this book teaches new vocabulary in addition to letter sounds and shape. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is because it doesn't have the enthralling story that is typical of Van Allsburg. But definitely an excellent alphabet book!

This is a pretty fun children's book with beautiful black and white illustrations. It's been a while since I read the book so I'm not sure if the illustrations are pencil and/or charcoal? Either way, each letter and what is happening to it is beautifully rendered with nice prose. Overall a great book to help young kids learn their ABC's but the illustrations can be a real treat for older kids/adults.

I enjoyed the high quality illustrations this book included and the high leveled vocabulary. This would be a fun way for students to review the alphabet. Younger students will be able to see good illustrations and vocabulary while also enjoying a funny story. Students can predict what will happen to the letter based on the patterns and the illustration. This will help expand their vocabulary. Older students can expand their writing abilities by seeing that alphabet books can be more advanced. They could write an alphabet book of their own with similar slightly higher leveled statements.

This is an incredibly clever ABC book, set up as a play with each letter in its own act. In each illustration the letter is being transformed in some way, but you don't see the text of that action until the next page.
This would be great for prediction lessons or to read just for fun. It could also be great for creative writing, where students have to give the reason why the transformation of a letter is happening.

I love Van Allsburg's illustrations, they are exceptionally realistic. And I really like this alphabet book because it is out of the ordinary. It still has the typical one letter per page with a sentence that uses a word that starts with that letter. However, this book is dramatic - each letter was murdered in an unusual way ("E was evaporated."). I love that it's an alphabet book that uses a more advanced vocabulary set. This is an alphabet book that could easily be used with an older audience than the usual pre-k or kinder group.

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Chris Van Allsburg is one of my favorite childrens' authors. I enjoy his detailed illustrations and minimalist story telling that fosters the imagination to fill in the missing story. This is a simple alphabet book, in which each letter meets an unsettling fate. The pictures are all black and white pencil, which add to the eerie feeling of the book's content. My first grade teacher was obsesses with Van Allsburg and had all of his books in her classroom. She would often use them as writing prompts for us, letting us choose an illustration and writing a story to explain what was occurring. I loved those exercises and the combination of imagination with writing skills.

I find this book awkward to read aloud to young children because the text is on the back of the illustrations instead of the facing page. The alliteration was clever and the illustrations were of the excellent quality expected of Chris Van Allsburg. I wish the text was positioned so it could be comfortably read while showing the illustrations.