A happy surprise in my inbox today: a review of ZIG in Kirkus.
ZIG AND THE MAGIC UMBRELLA
Author: Sylvie Kantorovitz
Illustrator: Sylvie Kantorovitz
Review Issue Date: December 15, 2014
Online Publish Date: December 6, 2014
Publisher:Dial
Pages: 32
Price ( Hardcover ): $16.99
Publication Date: March 17, 2015
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-0-8037-3913-0
Category: Picture Books
A magic umbrella transports Zig to a faraway place where adventure and friendship await. All seems blue on this dark and stormy day, until a red umbrella whooshes by Zig's treehouse. The Shrek-eared protagonist grabs hold of the umbrella, which pulls him to an unfamiliar land where dandelion-shaped trees and corallike plants have a mysterious, cheerful allure. When a bird he encounters asks for help, the umbrella becomes a tool to set a trapped flock free. Transformed by Zig's imagination, it becomes a boat, pick ax, bridge and lance. But its real magic lies in the friendship it forges between Zig and the little bird. Kantorovitz's mixed-media collage, full of pattern and texture, creates a vibrant fantasy landscape; the character designs and scenery recall the work of William Steig, Heinz Edelmann and Jill Bliss. For all its seeming strangeness, a comforting and familiar tale about a journey that ends in companionship and contentment. (Picture book. 3-5)
