The titular hero, Zooni, is based on the author's dog, a small, scruffy pup that smiles happily at readers from a cameo appearance on the title page, placed over the literary Zooni who has whisps of fur on their head and flipped out to the side as ears and wears a kurta-style tunic in bright yellow over blue shorts. The story begins with three pink creatures wearing striped blue shorts making off with Zooni's blue shoe. Five short chapters range from a 4 to 40 pages and present Zooni in a series of simple adventures.
In Seuss-like rhymes, "We saw some shrews run with a shoe!/They dropped this as they ran! Hoo-hoo!" Zooni tracks down the thieves of their shoe, has an underground adventure, makes delicious pancakes, and has an adventure at sea. Each story rhymes throughout the simple dialogue balloons and features quirky little twists in the story, like the use of Zooni's single shoe at the end of the first chapter or the solution for their ocean disaster.
The cheerful colors lean towards blues, pinks, and purples, with smiling cartoon creatures that include an elephant, pig, sheep, ox, monkeys, and shrews. Most backgrounds are simple colors or patterns, but some show slightly more detailed landscapes, like a sparsely-populated beach or splashy ocean. There are arrows to help beginning readers follow the action in the larger and more involved panels, and speech bubbles have colors that help readers attach them to the speakers. A variety of pronouns are used, including they/them for Zooni.
Verdict: This makes both a fun read-aloud and a delightful transitional chapter for young readers. The simple text and adventures, bright colors and rhymes, will attract beginning readers and will be accessible to readers at a variety of points on their reading journey. Recommended.
ISBN: 9780823453573; Published October 2023 by Holiday House; Purchased for the library
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