Z Goes Home

That's it. I'm just going to have to write a book all about the abundance and diversity found in alphabet books out there. There's nothing else for it. Every time I convince myself that I've reviewed my last alphabetical picture extravaganza, I discover another one and it's down that slippery slope I slide once more. I've eventually come to the conclusion that alphabet books fall into two distinct categories. In the first are the ones that try to appeal to children in some way. They may utilize racecars, dinosaurs, or puppy dogs. It doesn't matter. At their heart is an overwhelming need to be loved by people under the age of 12. Then there are the alphabet picture books that couldn't care less what kids think of them. These are designer alphabets. They're tricky and clever and exist in their own little world. Which brings us to Jon Agee's 2003 foray into the alphabetic picture book world. Like any good illustrator (I've always admired his, "The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau") he's given his own little touch to the genre. The result is a book that somehow manages to walk a fine line between kids and adults while at the same time zooming into wide-eyed devil-may-care zaniness. If nothing else, "Z Goes Home" is an exercise in alphabetic clean-lined surrealism. It's the end of a long day. On one page we see a ladder leaning against a sleeping bear's cage and the words "CITY ZOO" standing proudly up top. In the next instance, the "Z" in "ZOO" has climbed down the ladder and is returning home. To do so, he wanders through a series of paranormal scenes, all hiding a letter of the alphabet somewhere in their midst. A walk over a "B" shaped bridge looks down on an "A" shaped alien in a valley. A "J" shaped jetty sports a karate master who has fashioned in body into a perfect "K" and who has also (though this is unclear) just kicked "Z" into the awaiting water below. I wouldn't say that the longer you read the goofier it gets since these scenes are pretty goofy to begin with. Still, it's hard not to stare in confusion at the "N" shaped newspapers or the inexplicably hollow oak that could just as easily have displayed an "O" had it not been so mysteriously emptied of its inner wood. By the time you get to the lady in the black and white checkered skirt creating copy after copy after copy of the letter "X", you're as relieved as "Z" is to finally open the door and announce, "HEY, EVERYBODY, I'M HOME!". Other letters lounge about the place, including a mysterious exclamation mark who somehow earned himself letter status in the household. With a final page simply titled, "ZOWIE!", Agee provides a one to eight word sentence that defines each term used in the book. From this you can learn that ink is, "a liquid that stains your clothes", and that rocks are, "large masses of stone". Yeah, I was a little weirded out by the whole exercise. Agee can't quite decide whether to make this the actual journey of our hero "Z" or jus

I originally checked this book out at the library, but liked it so much we bought our own copy. Fun and original - a new way to look at learning the alphabet.

Z goes home is a very creative book. Readers will wonder where Jon Agee comes up with his illustrations. Many will make you smile and laugh. Children and adults alike will enjoy "Z Goes Home" and many other of his works.