"The Z Was Zapped"

Title: "The Z Was Zapped"
Author and Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987
Genre: Alphabet Picture Book
Age: K-2

"The Z Was Zapped" is an alphabet book that is given in 26 acts. Each page is given an Act number and a picture of the letter with its mishap. For example, The A was in an Avalanche. Each picture shows the the letter and its mishap in pencil and the pictures have been shaded in. There are 26 acts because there are 26 letters in the alphabet. On the last page the Z was finally zapped.

I enjoyed this book. I feel like the illustrations are what makes it! It made me anxious while I was reading the book because I would see the pictures and naturally I would try and guess what Van Allsburg was going to say happened to that particular letter. I found myself laughing several times, especially when the D was nearly Drowned and the E was slowly Evaporating. I personally don't remember ever reading a book or having a book read to me, that was like this particular alphabet book.

I would use this book to teach my students their alphabet. I would also use this book to teach my students about adjectives and verbs. I think that Van Allsburg uses great adjectives and verbs to describe each letter. I especially love that the W was oddly warped.