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Zoom Trilogy #3
Zoom Upstream
Zoom the cat follows a mysterious trail through a bookshelf to Egypt, where he joins his friend Maria in a search for his Uncle Roy
36 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
35 people want to read
About the author
Tim Wynne-Jones
72 books163 followersTim Wynne-Jones (born 12 August 1948) is an English–Canadian author of children's literature, including picture books and novels for children and young adults, novels for adults, radio dramas, songs for the CBC/Jim Henson production Fraggle Rock, as well as a children's musical and an opera libretto.
Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Juvenile (2001): The Boy in the Burning House
Edgar Award
◊ Best Young Adult (2002): The Boy in the Burning House
Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Juvenile (2001): The Boy in the Burning House
Edgar Award
◊ Best Young Adult (2002): The Boy in the Burning House
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 15, 2016
Only a few years ago I encountered "Le Matou Marin" for free and adored it. It turned out to be the French "Zoom At Sea". I did not know it débuted a precious trilogy about friends who embark upon the most exotic journeys just by taking a few steps. The discovery that enchanted access to awesome places can be under any jug or through any door, would have thrilled my imagination to no end if I had known Tim Wynne-Jones' literature as a child. I was a child upon publication of two of them! Last month I snapped-up "Zoom Upstream", 1992. Four stars reflect that I was a little less enthralled with it but it is still a very special story, milieu, and short cast of characters.
It is no fault of the author's that my copy was from a children's museum with smudges, stickers, and a few page tears. Illustrator Eric Beddows' black & white treatment effected a small letdown. Although they are wonderfully intricate, with a flourish mimicking Egyptian style; part of what entranced me in "Le Matou Marin" was the most exquisite rush of colours across a sea. Particularly because Egyptian rooms and caches are strongly connected with glinting gold, colour belonged here. The story lurched erratically. There was no build-up when Maria and Zoom set out this time. She was merely gone and he had been asleep. We weren't told how Uncle Roy might be in danger, who we find smiling.
The end clamped down abruptly when Uncle Roy merely invites them on a new adventure, without benefit of any explanation of why Maria and Zoom purportedly saved him. This was not a cohesive story but page snapshots of suspenseful fun. What was ever-present is a whole heart-warming feeling and these characters' distinct wonderment of discovery.
It is no fault of the author's that my copy was from a children's museum with smudges, stickers, and a few page tears. Illustrator Eric Beddows' black & white treatment effected a small letdown. Although they are wonderfully intricate, with a flourish mimicking Egyptian style; part of what entranced me in "Le Matou Marin" was the most exquisite rush of colours across a sea. Particularly because Egyptian rooms and caches are strongly connected with glinting gold, colour belonged here. The story lurched erratically. There was no build-up when Maria and Zoom set out this time. She was merely gone and he had been asleep. We weren't told how Uncle Roy might be in danger, who we find smiling.
The end clamped down abruptly when Uncle Roy merely invites them on a new adventure, without benefit of any explanation of why Maria and Zoom purportedly saved him. This was not a cohesive story but page snapshots of suspenseful fun. What was ever-present is a whole heart-warming feeling and these characters' distinct wonderment of discovery.
July 2, 2014
I found all three Zoom books in beautiful condition at Mariposa Public Library in the Friends of Library books for sale room. It was like uncovering buried treasure. What a joy to read all three in one sitting!
February 24, 2020
Picture book with excellent illustrations
Read
May 23, 2023In this final adventure Zoom is lazing around in the fall in Maria’s backyard when he falls asleep. He awake to find himself alone, but there’s a set of footprint leading first to the phone in the kitchen, and then to the library where they end. A beam of light peers out from a bookcase where a book has been removed, and Zoom enters the light to find a secret passage leading down to an underground river with a crate floating in it. He paddles the crate down the river past crocodiles, and ends up in an Egyptian tomb. There he sneaks past ancient Egyptian cats celebrating Bastet, and finds Maria wrapped in gauze like a mummy. He unwraps her and they follow a trail buttons apparently left by Zoom’s uncle, who also escaped ahead of them. They make it outside, see The Catship, now free from the ice, and join the uncle for a bowl of grog, and the promise of more adventure.
August 9, 2017
This is a wonderfully illustrated children's book that requires you to embrace magical thinking in order to follow this adventure of Zoom the cat.
December 5, 2019
Fanciful story a child would love - great illustrations
January 18, 2020
very cute
February 18, 2023
Last book in the Zoom trilogy. This one involves Zoom finding a hidden staircase in the library of his friend Maria’s house. I totally need a library with a hidden staircase.
April 11, 2025
Wynne-Jones Waltz #3
Zoom #3
Third of three stories in the Zoom trilogy was again an average yarn which held some interest - it was an ok book and trilogy.
Zoom #3
Third of three stories in the Zoom trilogy was again an average yarn which held some interest - it was an ok book and trilogy.
January 23, 2014
**NOTE** I am reviewing this book as an adult student of Japanese with no Kanji knowledge and beginner level reading skills of Hiragana and Katakana.
This is an adorable book with amazing illustrations. It's a Japanese translation of "Zoom: Upstream" from the Zoom series which has three books about an adventurous cat (are there any other kinds?) that discovers pathways to amazing places within his caretakers home while in the search for his Uncle. This book is the last of the three in which Zoom the cat finds a passageway to Egypt while trying to save his caretaker Maria who disappears quite suddenly.
I'm sure these are delightful books to read to your children and if I was a fluent speaking Japanese child its the kind of thing I'd be enthralled by.
I did see in the reviews for the English versions (which, I have not read) that the language is actually a bit advanced even by a "children's book" standard and this came through in my own bumbling Japanese reading. Since my Japanese vocabulary is next to nothing, I had a dictionary handy as well as a fellow reader with 2 years of studying under his belt.
I can say that there is very little Kanji in this book and it is written almost exclusively in Hiragana and Katakana. However, the areas there are Kanji there is no Hiragana subtext for younger readers so you might need reference material here and there. Furthermore, even my "translator" was constantly referring to the dictionary since there were many words he was unfamiliar with - more so their conjugations. I have a feeling the translation was trying to convey an accent or slang that resulted in some very odd terminology and verb usage that was frustrating in our read through. Also there was the use of a font that was meant to look like a hurriedly scribbled note. As a beginning reader of Japanese I couldn't make out almost a single character (and I've been able to pick out a fair amount of script at this point in games and animes). Luckily this only appeared one time.
A good learning aid is that this book used a good amount of onomatopoeia terms which was quite fun (the sound of water racing, crashing into things, spinning in circles, etc.) and if you are trying to get used to seeing them used in a sentence this definitely would show you how it might appear.
Ultimately, however, this translation proved very challenging for a beginning reader (and even a more advanced one seeking to translate properly). In comparison, we have another Japanese children's book which was originally written in Japanese and makes far more sense. As I stated before I think my comprehension issues stem mostly from an attempt to preserve the "accent" perhaps of the original.
If you are more advanced in your understanding of "proper" Japanese or just well-versed in verb conjugations, you should check this book out. The story is adorable - even from what I could splice together. The illustrations really are works of art. I loved stories like this as a kid, discovering new words in closets and behind bookshelves, and in secret gardens, etc.
Check it out. If you're a student like me, I'd be interested to hear feedback. If you're a Japanese parent looking for a fun book to read to your child, than this is a good choice!
This is an adorable book with amazing illustrations. It's a Japanese translation of "Zoom: Upstream" from the Zoom series which has three books about an adventurous cat (are there any other kinds?) that discovers pathways to amazing places within his caretakers home while in the search for his Uncle. This book is the last of the three in which Zoom the cat finds a passageway to Egypt while trying to save his caretaker Maria who disappears quite suddenly.
I'm sure these are delightful books to read to your children and if I was a fluent speaking Japanese child its the kind of thing I'd be enthralled by.
I did see in the reviews for the English versions (which, I have not read) that the language is actually a bit advanced even by a "children's book" standard and this came through in my own bumbling Japanese reading. Since my Japanese vocabulary is next to nothing, I had a dictionary handy as well as a fellow reader with 2 years of studying under his belt.
I can say that there is very little Kanji in this book and it is written almost exclusively in Hiragana and Katakana. However, the areas there are Kanji there is no Hiragana subtext for younger readers so you might need reference material here and there. Furthermore, even my "translator" was constantly referring to the dictionary since there were many words he was unfamiliar with - more so their conjugations. I have a feeling the translation was trying to convey an accent or slang that resulted in some very odd terminology and verb usage that was frustrating in our read through. Also there was the use of a font that was meant to look like a hurriedly scribbled note. As a beginning reader of Japanese I couldn't make out almost a single character (and I've been able to pick out a fair amount of script at this point in games and animes). Luckily this only appeared one time.
A good learning aid is that this book used a good amount of onomatopoeia terms which was quite fun (the sound of water racing, crashing into things, spinning in circles, etc.) and if you are trying to get used to seeing them used in a sentence this definitely would show you how it might appear.
Ultimately, however, this translation proved very challenging for a beginning reader (and even a more advanced one seeking to translate properly). In comparison, we have another Japanese children's book which was originally written in Japanese and makes far more sense. As I stated before I think my comprehension issues stem mostly from an attempt to preserve the "accent" perhaps of the original.
If you are more advanced in your understanding of "proper" Japanese or just well-versed in verb conjugations, you should check this book out. The story is adorable - even from what I could splice together. The illustrations really are works of art. I loved stories like this as a kid, discovering new words in closets and behind bookshelves, and in secret gardens, etc.
Check it out. If you're a student like me, I'd be interested to hear feedback. If you're a Japanese parent looking for a fun book to read to your child, than this is a good choice!
February 17, 2024
Resembling The House that Jack Built this book tells of a cozy bed in a sleeping house. Granny is the first one sleeping in the bed. Then the dreaming child falls asleep on top of her. The dozing dog, snoozing cat, and slumbering mouse soon follow. Then a wakeful flea joins the sleeping pile and bites the mouse. The mouse scares the cat; the cat claws the dog. The dog thumps the child who, in turn, bumps Granny. The bed breaks and noone is sleeping in the napping house anymore.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
March 10, 2013
Zoom upstream is an adorable book about a cat named Zoom who lives with his human friend Maria. One day, Maria receives a letter from Uncle Roy, asking for help & she vanishes on her way to him. It's up to Zoom to rescue Maria from soem Egyptian mummy-making cats so they can go to uncel Roy's aid.
March 8, 2016
A little confusing because I haven't read the earlier books in the series yet. Though the illustrations are just black and white, they are very complex and interesting to look at.
March 2, 2025
From my childhood, liked it a bit more than the last even if it had scarier imagery.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews