Review: Have You Ever Zeen a Ziz?
Have You Ever Zeen a Ziz? by Linda Elovitz Marshall, illustrated by Kyle Reed Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili Reminiscent of the style of a Dr. Seuss story, Have You Ever Zeen a Ziz? is about the ziz, a mythological big bird that is referred to in ancient Jewish writings. Reed’s whimsical and colorful artwork that gives the book a fantasy world feel. The reader learns how a ziz looks and behaves, during the day and at night. Written in rhyming verse, the vocabulary is both simple (hat / cat / bat) and more advanced (prehistoric / absurd / creation / lofty). There are also several Seussian words in the book; in this story, real words are replaced by made-up rhyming words beginning with the letter ‘z’ (zis instead of this, zat instead of that, zings instead of sings, zee instead of see). This use of the ‘z’ sound will appeal to younger children, especially when the book is read aloud. Additionally, some of the words are written in bigger font