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My Review
Zippy's Special Gift is a sweet children's book with a good message for young readers. It's a story about acceptance and learning to love the things that make people (or in this case, animals) different.
Zippy is a young zebra who doesn't like her stripes. She thinks they make her too different. But soon, Zippy realizes that all of her friends have something that makes them special and unique, even if they don't like that specific thing about themselves either.
I really liked this book. It's a fun, quick little read with colorful illustrations that engage the reader.
Kids will find themselves easily drawn in, eager to read the story again and again.
An absolutely wonderful children's book.
5 stars!
Guest Post
The Most Influential People
in My Writing Career
I still remember my second-grade teacher, Miss Donovan. She always encouraged me to write about interesting topics, and she found a way to provide constructive criticism that helped me grow my skills. Here is a poem I wrote for her when she was out ill one day: There’s only one time when your clock won’t tick. It’s when everyone misses you and when you are sick! A budding poet, no less! 😊 In addition to encouraging young writers, Miss Donovan also made each student feel special. She had an amazing way to recognize each of us and cherish our strengths while helping us build on areas of improvement too. In a way, she also inspired the theme of “Zippy’s Special Gift" as well, a book that reminds us all to always celebrate our special gifts as they are what makes each of us unique.
Another person who influenced my writing was Mike Jacobs at the NBC-TV affiliate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I had the honor of interning for Mike while I attended Marquette University. While Mike was a news anchor on the nightly news broadcasts, he also delivered updates during hourly newsbreaks on one of the top local radio stations. I wrote his radio news updates each afternoon, and I still remember walking from his newsroom office to the radio booth where he broadcast his news updates. I’d listen to him deliver the news and then we would walk back to the newsroom together and as we walked together, he would give me tips on how to improve the next news script. I learned a great deal from Mike. Above all, he taught me less is best. It’s important to convey the story with key facts in a concise way so that the listeners can understand the story in a short amount of time so they are informed and can move along with their day. I applied this technique to “Zippy’s Special Gift,” keeping the text short yet impactful with the goal of delivering an enjoyable story for readers of all ages.
Blogger’s note: For over 50 years, Zebra
Technologies has helped people around the world with solutions to keep them
connected and make better business decisions. Our mascot, Zippy represents our
diverse culture and the fun we like to have at work. In “Zippy’s Special Gift,”
Zippy introduces us to her connections – her best animal friends who help her
make an important decision about herself. Check us out at www.zebra.com.
Jasmine - thank you for your positive review of "Zippy's Special Gift"! I truly appreciate your kind words, thoughtful analysis and 5-star rating.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Therese
You're very welcome! :)
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