The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg

“W” was oddly Warped?  Yes, that’s what it says.  The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg is an alphabet book like none other.  First, letters don’t stand for nouns in this book they stand for verbs.  Also, it is arranged into theater acts with each page listing the number of the act.  The illustrations feature the letters in some sort of action on a stage and even the title page is consistent with the theater theme.  Some action, represented by a verb starting with the same letter, is done to to each letter.  Although readers have probably been exposed to many types of alphabet books in the past, they don’t lose interest with this story because of the unique drawings and somewhat foreboding verbs, such as kidnapped used.     

I love this unique presentation of the alphabet and I believe the opportunities for learning associated with this book are endless.  First, the pages are arranged in such a way that readers can make predictions about what is happening to each letter.  I found it fun to do this myself as I was reading so I’m sure young children would love doing this as well.  This book would be a great way to introduce theater and kids would have fun coming up with their own acts for the different letters.   Each student could be assigned a letter and a class book or class presentation could be created from their work.  This would work really well for an open house or parents’ visiting night. 
Year Published: 1987          Awards: