Zippity Zoom

Serendipity

by Stephen Cosgrove, Robin James (Illustrator)

Zippity is the fastest Zoom, but he's so fast he misses all the wonderful things around him. When he meets a turtle who finally teaches him to slow down, he learns to enjoy all of life's pleasures.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Young Readers, Fiction, Animals

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the Serendipity books that I actually based upon the cover and thought I wouldn't like it but instead it has one of the best lessons of any of the Serendipity books ever!

The words are easy and simple to read for young readers while the pictures will catch the eye. And definitely a good one to read the little ones to show them that the world isn't meant for material trophies and awards but for slowing down to small the flowers while collecting the "trophies" of the world around us.

[Atlantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is part of a series from the ‘70s (Serendipity). Colorful pictures and a little lesson in each story. About one paragraph a page alongside a full page picture.

[Angela Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was first reintroduced to these books whilst digging through boxes of imported remainder books from the States. How delighted was I to stumble upon these books, which entranced me with their art and then brought with them a flood of nostalgia for my childhood. After discovering several different titles, I underwent a mission and visited every store of this particular chain in town and scrabbled to collect more. I collected a grand total of 9.

This one, Zippity Zoom, focuses on a type of critter that rush through life, always racing and trying to be the first. Our hero is named Whiz, and he is really, really fast. Until the day he trips over a turtle and shown that there is more to life than winning and rushing, and that by slowing down you can appreciate what you've got all that much more.

The language is, as always, quite delightfully lyrical and evocative and the illustrations charming to behold. Whiz is a sort of racoon-critter in running shoes and the colour reproduction seems slightly less saturated in these, later, reprinted editions (from 2003) whilst still being filled with brightness and details.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, as I'm going through these, I'm kind of regretting the ones I've already gotten rid of (at least before I wrote reviews to remind myself why I didn't need to keep them). On the other hand, books like this one were never reallllly my favorites, and even if they don't take up much shelf space, I should only keep the ones I love.

More like 2.5 stars - there's nothing particularly wrong with it; it's just not that interesting. I don't love the Zoom designs, and the "stop and smell the roses" message could be meaningful in this rat race of a world but doesn't really say much new or uniquely inspiring.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Serendipity Book A "Zoom" is a super fast animal that goes so fast doing that they never take the time to actually see things around them. To them going from point A to point B very fast is what they do. But then one day one of them wants to race a turtle and he wants to win. But when the turtle doesn't 'run' he comes back and talks to him and tells him that he wins even though he does't win in the way Zoom thinks he wins. So the turtle goes on and explains to him about the beautiful things he misses out on by rushing around. So Zoom does slow down and he learns the moral of the story "It is important to take the time to enjoy life."

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ahh," said the turtle. "You raced by all those things but did you really see any of them?"

[Katy Brandes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but not the best of the Serendipity books.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the idea of this one. Slow down so you can notice and appreciate the beauty and wonder of the world around you. Reminds me a little of the Hare and the Tortoise fable.