Zig in Korean!

How cool is that!  The type is so pretty with all these little circles.  Plus the hand-drawn text is exquisitely rendered.  Now I wish I could hear someone read it in Korean... 

ZIG reviewed in the NY Times!!!!!

What an incredible surprise today:  Zig is included in the 

NY Times Sunday Book Review.  

I sure got MY magic umbrella today!

SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW | CHILDREN’S BOOKS

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Rites of Spring

By MARIA RUSSO APRIL 22, 2015

New picture books welcome spring weather — even the downpours.

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   CreditFrom "Zig and the Magic Umbrella"

   Zig and the Magic Umbrella
   Written and illustrated by Sylvie Kantorovitz
   Kantorovitz (“The Very Tiny Baby”) takes an umbrella — to a small child, a totally compelling and even magical object — and plays it for all it’s worth. Her Zig is an unusual, blurry-lined creature, blue all over with a rectangular nose and two mushroom-like protrusions on his head. He looks just right holding an umbrella painted in shades of red with squiggly brush strokes. It takes Zig on a journey through the sky and into a zany forest of crazily patterned blue, red and gray trees that look like lollipops, where he joins forces with a sweet yellow bird. By the end of this strangely satisfying book, Zig has used the umbrella in every conceivable way — as a bridge, a hook, a boat, a sword and a lever.
   32 pp. Dial Books. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 2 to 7)

Tiny Baby in CCBC Choice 2015

The Very Tiny Baby is included in the category of "Understanding Oneself and Others" in the CCBC Choices 2015 catalog.  (Cooperative Children's Book Center.  School of Education.  University of Wisconsin-Madison.)

Here is the last line of the review:
"The honesty of Jacob's voice and feelings stand out in this informative story illustrated to look like Jacob's own drawings of events as they unfold."

If one must have numbers: Tiny Baby is one of the 259 books chosen out of about 3,500 new books published in 2014.

https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/choices.asp

Booklist review

Another very nice review of ZIG.  Booklist of February 15th.  

It's so nice when the reviewer's words echo one's intentions.  

Zig and the Magic Umbrella.

Kantorovitz, Sylvie (Author) , Kantorovitz, Sylvie (Illustrator)

Mar 2015. 32 p. Dial, hardcover, $16.99. (9780803739130).

When is an umbrella not an umbrella? When it is a bridge, a boat, or a lever, among other things. Little Zig, observing a rainy day through his window, is surprised when a red umbrella blows by. He grabs hold of it and is whisked away. He eventually lands near a yellow bird who needs help rescuing a flock of friends trapped in a cave guarded by a giant beast. 

While the umbrella is not so much magic as Zig is innovative in his use of it, the story certainly has its share of charmed escapades. The umbrella as a force for good is echoed in the final pages, when a grateful bird brings Zig a token of his appreciation: a red umbrellalike flower. While not a wordless picture book, the text is minimal. Author and illustrator Kantorovitz lets the rather geometrical illustrations tell the tale. Liberal use of white space makes the primary colors pop, even when there is a lot of activity on a page. A sweet, satisfying adventure for any day, rain or shine.

— Kara Dean

A good ZIG to hold.

YEAH!  My first copy of ZIG.  At the risk of boasting, I'll say it looks pretty darn good.  I am so happy with the printing, the chosen fonts and the layout.  Yes, all that hand-written looking text is a font.  Although there is also some hand-painted onomatopoeia inside.  (The book will be out March 17.  And not a speck of green in the whole book!)