Zip Zap Wickety Wack: A Story About Sharing

by Matthew Diffee

New Yorker cartoonist Matthew Diffee makes his children’s book debut with this laugh-out-loud twist on the classic animal sound book.

The cow says “moo.” The horse says “neigh.” Everyone can agree on these.

But when the sheep says “baa,” the goat cuts in. The goat also says “baa.” Now what? No one wants to share their sound!

The sheep has an idea—he’ll just say something no one’s ever said before: “zip zap wickety wack bing bang walla balla flip flap yackety yack.” But an otherworldly visitor shows up to lay claim to this sound, too—and the alien doesn't want to share his identity either.

When the alien proposes a radical new way forward, the sheep and the goat find a compromise—and it may sound familiar to adult readers . . .

New Yorker cartoonist Matthew Diffee’s hilarious wit will be an immediate hit with young readers in his first picture book. Sure to inspire boisterous read-alouds and threaded with a sneaky message about sharing, Zip Zap Wickety Wack will inspire new nonsense and new values in homes, classrooms, and farmyards around the world.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Humor, Childrens, Storytime, Aliens, Friendship

48 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2025

About the author

Matthew Diffee has been contributing cartoons to The New Yorker since 1999. His work has also appeared in Time, The Huffington Post, The Believer and Texas Monthly magazines. He is the editor of three volumes of “The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw and Never Will See in The New Yorker” published by Simon & Schuster and is working on a new book for Scribner called “Hand Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People.” He’s done illustration work for bands like the Punch Brothers and for a special collector’s edition of Stephen King’s novel “Under the Dome.” Last year Diffee received the Silver Reuben Award for best single panel cartoonist of the year and was recently named Chairman of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society.

Reviews

[Panic!_at_the_Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Randomly found this book at my local library. When I read the title to my child, particularly the part about sharing, I got a giant eye roll. Who wants to read about sharing?!

This book is both written and illustrated by an author with a sense of humor and an aesthetic for comic-like (but better) drawings. In this story, both the sheep and the goat went to say “baa,” but that’s just tomfoolery. They can’t both say “baa.” Insert hijinks and even an alien from outer space who tries to help.

We loved this book. It was cute, nicely illustrated, original, and shows ways to problem solve (and ways to not, thanks weird alien).

Highly recommend if you have a child in the 3-9 range.

I so infrequently find storybooks that are interesting or original, let alone worthy of a GR posting. I’d love for you to give this a read and share your thoughts!

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Copy provided by Edelweiss Plus

A barnyard full of very realistically depicted animals is embroiled in a dispute; the sheep and the goat both stake claim to saying "baa". Clearly, this is a critically important distinction, and they can't possibly say the same thing. But what to do? The dog opines that the two should share the "baa" or neither of them can say it. The two think about saying other things, but the pig is unwilling to give up "oink", and the duck wants to keep "quack". The sheep finally decides to find something that no one has ever said, which ends up being "zip zap Wickety Wack bing bang walla balla flip flap yackety yack wing ding dilly". Of course, right after his pronouncement, a flying saucer shows up with an alien who claims that the sheep's new phrase is what HE says. While he encourages the two animals to "wiffle" (share), he is unwilling to do so himself, and is quite upset when the animals express surprise that he has a planet all to himself. The alien storms off at the very idea that he wiffle anything, which the animals think is sad. The sheep and the goat decide that they can wiffle "baa" after all.

The illustrations in this are quite lovely, and the author's note describing his walks through the Texas countryside to the school bus explains nicely why the pictures are so realistic. The color palette is very dusty and brown, with occasional washes of green or pops of red. The wax and color pencil drawings are a great serious, artistic foil to the generally wacky quality of the text.

Also not surprising is that Diffee has produced hundreds of cartoons for The New Yorker, which he describes as "big-shot fancy-pants". Some of the humor might go over children's heads but will be much appreciated by the adults; the kids, after all can giggle over Zip Zap Wickety Wack and the miffed alien. I know just the friend (who has a PhD in Classical history) who will take great glee in reading this to his grandchildren.

There are as many barnyard picture books as there are pieces of hay in a stack, but this is a sharp and funny look at "wiffling" that could share a stall with other snidely funny farm books like Falatko's Help Wanted: One Rooster or Cronin's Click, Clack Moo: Cows That Type.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.bayviews.org/review/zip-z...
Old timey, beautiful Caldecott-esque illustrations lull the reader until the witty and wacky plot twists start the laughs. Sure to be a family favorite. See above link for a more detailed, spoiler-free, review.

[lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

hilarious.

[Ann Haefele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure genius! What begins as a book about farm animals and the sounds they make, quickly transforms into a book about sharing. Large text and bold illustrations make this a perfect read aloud. While seemingly geared for young ones, can see this being used with older elementary kids to begin a discussion about sharing. The older kids will love the dry sense of humor. This is a new favorite of mine, that should become a classic.

[Abbigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book about sharing masquerading as a book about farm animals. Very funny.

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored, adored, adored!

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book about the idea of sharing. I like the surprise ending!

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations were quality and cute. Some made me smile. The story itself, however, was lacking.
I didn't get the lesson for sharing when mainly the whole book was about bickering. I really didn't get the end with the frog. Cute...but made no sense. I didn't get Dr. Seuss's appeal either so don't come at me. I said what I said.

[Christie Kaaland · Rating 5 out of 5]

What starts out as a concept book on barnyard animal sounds, “The cow says ‘Moo.’ The horse says ‘Neigh.'" quickly deteriorates into an argument as both the sheep and the goat say "Baaa". After the dog suggests that they share, each decides they will select a different sound, but each subsequent sound has already been taken by other barnyard animals. After much consideration, and a little pooping, sheep comes up with a brilliant idea for a sound no other animal uses, “Zip Zap Big Bang Flip Flap Wing Wickety Wack Walla Balla Yackety Yack Ding Dilly!” But wouldn't you know, just as he announces this, an alien flying saucer stops by to insist that that sound has been taken as well. He suggest they whiffle, which he described as, "Whiffling is when two or more people enjoy the same thing, either together, or by taking turns. It often results in a special friendship, forming between the whifflers, one built upon mutual trust and generosity." The farm animals explain that it is the same as their concept of sharing. The alien then explains that the reason there's no whiffling on his its planet is because he is the only one on his planet. While the farm animals realize that it is lonely, the alien jets off worried he may have to share (or whiffle). Lesson learned: maybe it's not so bad to have to share their "baaa."

The illustrations in this delightful picture book contrast interestingly with the tongue-in-cheek humor of the storyline. Pastoral realism in dusty shades in shades of hay and feed dust the pages; in contrast the animals are realistically drawn, cast with an old-fashioned feel.

Caldecott worthy.

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first glance, it seems this book will explain the sounds that farmyard animals make. It turns out that there’s a bit of a disagreement: both the sheep and the goat say “baa,” and they don’t want to share that expression. But all of the good ones are taken: oink, quack, cockadoodledoo, ribbit are claimed by other animals at the farm. So the sheep decides to say something no one has ever said. And it’s practically too long to print here. The problem seems solved, until a little creature in a flying saucer lands among the animals and explains “wiffling.”

With the story told almost completely in dialogue, readers will really get to know each animal. The fabulous wax and colored pencil artwork makes it such fun to examine the animals’ expressions. They are depicted realistically but with nuances of body language. Little ones will love thinking about the sheep and goat’s dilemma and suggesting possible sounds each could make. The cream colored background makes it seems like an ancient cautionary tale, but then the extraterrestrial shows up and it’s just so funny. And the frog, who is a bit of a jokester, has the last word. I thoroughly enjoyed this book at each reading – it will make an excellent read aloud at story time. Observant readers will find a surprise on the cover verso.

[Annette Langedijk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geit en Schaap hebben een probleem. Ze zeggen allebei “Bèèèh”. Dat is natuurlijk behoorlijk onhandig, want alle andere dieren hebben hun eigen, herkenbare geluid. De koe loeit, de hond blaft, de kat miauwt… maar Geit en Schaap? Die klinken precies hetzelfde. En delen? Dat zien ze allebei niet zitten. Dus ja… wat dan?

Het schaap zegt: ‘Bèèèh.’
De geit zegt: ‘Hé, wacht eens. Ik zeg bèèèh.’
‘Nou, ik zei het als eerst.’
Geit besluit dat er maar één oplossing is: een nieuwe roep! Maar is dat nieuwe geluid wel écht nieuw? En wat is in hemelsnaam ‘zwarren’?
Dit verhaal zit vol heerlijk taalgrappen die het niet alleen voor jonge kinderen, maar ook voor oudere lezers ontzettend grappig maken. Ik heb meerdere keren hardop gelachen, en dat gebeurt me niet vaak bij een prentenboek. Ook de kinderen in mijn klas (groep 6, notabene) lagen regelmatig in een deuk. Dat zegt genoeg over hoe sterk de humor in dit verhaal is.
Tegelijkertijd zit er onder al die vrolijke verwarring een mooie en herkenbare boodschap over samen delen. Zonder belerend te worden laat het verhaal zien dat je soms iets moet loslaten om samen verder te komen.
Kortom: een hilarisch verhaal met een knipoog, dat jong én oud weet te vermaken en stiekem ook nog iets meegeeft.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a clever, humorous twist on the traditional animal sound books that youngsters often read as an introduction to the animals and the sounds they make. These days many of them have buttons to push so they can hear the sounds for themselves. In the case of this picture book that feature won't be missed at all. As the farm animals gather together, the sheep and the goat get into a conflict about their sound, which is the same. This leads to problems with the others as the two animals suggest making one of their sounds. Finally, the sheep comes up with an outlandish sound, one that no one has ever made. But a visit from an alien reveals a problem with that. After he introduces a new concept, they decide to try it out even after he grows angry at them and flies off. The illustrations, created with was and colored pencil, are worth several looks, just to study the expressive faces of the animals during this entire incident and afterward, particularly when frog butts in. With its message about sharing and getting along and all the delightful animal sounds and artwork, this is a great read aloud choice.

[Ccaywood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The old-fashioned illustrations match the didactic tone of the subtitle, but don’t be fooled. Like Don’t Trust Fish, this picturebook quickly slides off the rails. Farm animals say their conventional noises till the sheep and the goat argue over who says baa. The dog says either share or neither gets baa. After trying more copyrighted noises like oink, the sheep declares it will come up with something no one has ever said, “Zip Zap Wickety Wack Bing Bang Walla Balla Flip Flap Yackety Yack Wing Ding Dilly!”

A tiny flying saucer arrives and the alien lays claim to Zip Zap, etc. The alien suggests they wiffle, meaning share, but does not practice what it preaches. The animals offer to wiffle the spaceship and the alien threatens to roast the planet like a burnt marshmallow before flying away. The frog has the last word, and it isn’t “ribbit.”

This is perfect for reading aloud, repeatedly. Fortunately there are Easter eggs for grown up readers. An added bonus is the very large font that could be helpful to beginning readers and children with impaired vision.

[Vera Godley · Rating 4 out of 5]

When goat and sheep get a bit contentious over their both "saying" baa, they and the other animals suggest they choose a different "say." So they go through all the animal's ways of speaking or sounding off. Of course, no one wants to relinquish his way to "say."

Then the book goes beyond the traditional kiddie animal book and inserts a flying saucer alien into the mix. Game on! A bit of alien advice and the action starts.

Simple illustrations capture the drool fun and personalities of the animals with bold lines and soft watercolor washes. I really like the simplicity of the illustrations. A fun read and kids will love.

I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.

[Elayne Crain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a great read-aloud, so a title like "Zip Zap Wickety Wack" is, naturally, irresistible to me. But, don't let the subtitle (A Story About Sharing--which it is; and we perpetually need books about, of course!) scare you off from picking up this book on a "I just want to read *something* funny" basis, too.

This picture book follows a sheep and goat who BOTH want to uniquely say, "Baa!" with humor that winks at everything from Mars Attacks!, Animal Farm, and even a Farmer See n' Say.

Charmingly illustrated (I particularly like the visiting-Rodin's-workshop-style "thinking sheep" spread) with a nostalgic nod, it also contains well enough quirk (hello, UFO!) to read as fresh and fun.

Perfect for preschoolers, politicians, or anyone who ever growled, "Mine!"

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first this book reads like a preschool concept book: "The cow says 'Moo.' The horse says 'Neigh.'" But it all becomes something else when the sheep and the goat argue about who will say "baa." The other farmyard animals try to get them to agree to a solution and even a visiting alien has an opinion. A gently humorous picture book with an important lesson about conflict resolution and compromise. There's also a wonderful frog with a great sense of humor. A fun book to read and share!

"Wiffling is when two or more people enjoy the same thing either together or by taking turns. It often results in a special friendship forming between the wifflers, one built upon mutual trust and generosity."

[Roben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our story starts with a bucolic farm scene a la Boynton where the cow says "Moo" and the sheep says "Baa". Unfortunately the goat begs to differ... they also say "Baa". The dog says -- no, not woof. Dog says they should share saying Baa but sheep refuses and comes up with a new sound. That no one else has ever made.... except a small alien. In a small flying saucer. Who comes for a visit. The alien introduces the concept of wiffling to the animals. But can sheep and goat really wiffle - er - share the baa?

This is adorable. And very funny. I laughed out loud!
It would make a wonderful read aloud for storytime. It's one of those books that you really want to share with everyone. I certainly hope Mr. Diffee does write at least a million more books for children.

[Jacqui · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2026 Texas 2x2 List. It never dawned on me that a sheep and a goat make the same sound. But they do.
A sheep and a goat do not want to share the word “baa”. So they decide to try out other animal’s sounds but none of them want to let the goat or the sheep use their sound.

The illustrations of each animal are realistic. But the illustrations of the sheep trying to think of something no one else uses was funny looking. The phrase he came up with was long but great. Unfortunately it was in use by an alien who gives them a new word for sharing (wiffle) which the alien animatedly doesn’t want to do with his spaceship.

The sheep and the goat begin to build a friendship on “mutual trust and generosity.”

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this barnyard-animals-gone-wild, Matthew Diffee goes all in on this original take on sharing featuring farm animals and all their regular noises, until goat and sheep want to share the same sound, "Baa!"

Stage right -- upper right pages, middle of the book that otherwise begins as any ho-hum farmyard animal book until enter alien in spaceship -- getting larger page by page until he introduces himself to the cow, sheet, goat, pig, frog, et al. Oddball humor and I'm here for it. Can't wait to share it with my storytime kiddos!

Themes: farm animals, sharing, aliens, humor
Ages: preK-2nd grade
Pub year: 2025

[V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting with the flyleaf, this is hilarious! When the sheep and goat can't agree on who gets to say, "Baa," the dispute goes interplanetary. Diffee beautifully and deftly shows how silly refusing to share can be - I was literally laughing aloud as I read! I also love his art, so this book has it all: lovely illustrations, comedic animal antics, and pointed reminder to not be selfish. Zip Zap is going to be one that you'll be asked to read again and again, and I have no doubt you'll enjoy doing it! The whole experience of reading is hysterical! If your little one likes farm animals, or maybe needs a push to share, this is the book to choose.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an electronic ARC from Neal Porter Books through Edelweiss+.
Readers will appreciate the humor that wraps around the serious message about sharing. Both Sheep and Goat say "Baa," and this causes an issue. The other animals try to get them to share but both refuse. Goat comes up with his own saying and is surprised when an unexpected visitor arrives and claims the nonsense syllables goat said. This visitor serves as an excellent example of someone who is selfish. Both Sheep and Goat find a way to compromise with what they say. I love the frog's comments as they definitely lighten moments and add to the fun.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

My six year old son and I both really enjoyed this funny book! This is a fun book with a great message about sharing for young kids! My favorite part was the unexpected arrival of the alien! His grumpy attitude added a lot to the story! My son thought listening to me say, “zip zap wicket wack bing bang walla balla flip flap yackety tack ding dilly” was the funniest thing ever. He was laughing so hard. We both said that part repeatedly. This would be a great book to read in a classroom with young kids! Great illustrations too!

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book begs to be read aloud, with animals sounds and the fun "zip zap..."rhyme. The illustrations which remind me a bit of McBratney's in "Guess How Much I Love You", give the book an old-fashioned feel that is made contemporary by the appearance of an alien who does NOT want to share. This is a book with a message that doesn't feel didactic. Simple enough for toddlers, even primary grade students will love it. It will also work as an easy reader. Highly recommended!

[Andrew Dittmar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zip Zap Wickety Wack: A Story About Sharing by Matthew Diffee


Reading history:
Normally I keep this in my private notes section, but I'm moving it. Yay!

Reading history was not added on Goodreads, but was instead kept on a post-it note with the book.


Started December 27th, 2025.
Finished December 27th, 2025.


December 27th, 2025: read entire book in physical form.

[Mrs.MakesReadingFun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zip Zap Wickety Wack is exactly the kind of super silly, over-the-top picture book that our library classes live for. The familiar animal sounds quickly spiral into delightful nonsense, surprise twists, and nonstop laughs. This one absolutely shines as a read-aloud, with kids giggling, joining in, and eagerly anticipating the chaos. Beneath all the wackiness is a sweet message about sharing too! A guaranteed crowd-pleaser for little readers!

[Laura Roettiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's something about a book with the subtitle "A Story About Sharing" that makes the eye rolls begin. Okay, get them out of the way because this book is truly clever, funny, and it was fun to read more than once which is always the test of a good picture book. Another test of a good picture book. I used the book's word for sharing today when I offered food to the little one and she laughed because we love expanding vocabulary and making connections through reading.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is absolutely HILARIOUS. It looks like a simple barnyard sound story, and the illustrations have a very traditional, classic feel, but this takes some exciting turns that I did not predict at all! This made me giggle out loud, and the illustrations and text work together perfectly. This is sure to be a crowd-pleaser with groups of kids, and there are lots of fun little details and facial expressions to enjoy up close.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super fun story about some farm animals that have to learn to share the same sound, Baa. Sheep and Goat both say it and don't want to share, but they learn from a Alien that its' the best way to go. I thought this might be good for preschool farm ST, but then I read it and realized a PreK kid is not going to get the subtle humor as well as a 1-3rd grader. So good for Elementary ST.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the top and nonsensical in the best way a picture book can be. What happens when two creatures bleat the same way? Various arbiters come up with potential solutions, but in the end sometimes you have to compromise. Which is OK!
Great illustrations with strong facial expressions that made me smile throughout. (Duck seems to have an unspoken beef with Frog, which is another small delight.)