Reviews For "Ambition's Not An Awful Word"
Midwest Book Review
"Ambition's Not an Awful Word" is a rollicking ride to the moon and back with a boy named (of course!) Zack. Astoundingly vivid visions and wildly wacky narrative verse depict Zack's incredible dreams of 'what I want to be.' Naturally, he jumps all over his latest boring school assignment and projects himself to the top, front and center of every imaginable stage or arena of action and performance. Though Zack is teased by his classmates for his fantastic dreams, his mother tells him the moon left him a message, 'It's OK to dream.'
The extremely informative glossary will help kids who never heard of a cummerbund or Jackson Pollock or the Parthenon to enjoy Zack's wild ambitions and dreams even more. "Ambition's Not An Awful Word" should be required reading for all kids who dream of an exciting future.
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/jun_12.htm#Picturebook
(June, 2012) JAMES A. COX
The extremely informative glossary will help kids who never heard of a cummerbund or Jackson Pollock or the Parthenon to enjoy Zack's wild ambitions and dreams even more. "Ambition's Not An Awful Word" should be required reading for all kids who dream of an exciting future.
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/jun_12.htm#Picturebook
(June, 2012) JAMES A. COX
Foreword Book Reviews
Fourth-grader Zack Zage is fairly busting his buttons, stuck as he is at the end of the alphabet on the day his teacher, Ms. Grundy, introduces the topic, “What I want to be.” Because Zack wants to be a little bit of everything—from cowboy to astronaut to chef, and maybe an architect, artist, doctor, and banker on weekends, to unwind. But as he spins out each of his dreams (in verse, no less), he’s either undone by doubt, by Ms. Grundy, or, in one case, by his stove, which orders him outside to “have a weenie roast” rather than sully it with his cooking. By day’s end he’s defeated and exhausted, and his mother has to remind him it’s both normal and healthy to dream big.
The words and layout work together to make Ambition's Not an Awful Word a success. Illustrator and 2006 Golden Addy Award winner Adam Watkins portrays Zack’s proclaimed fantasy on one page: When Zack wants to be a doctor, he’s shown in an office with cabinets full of toys, drawers full of candy, and a young girl sitting on the exam table while he makes notes on a pad. On the facing page, Zack himself is on the table, clutching his scraped knee to his chest, and the candy has been replaced by the requisite peroxide and cotton balls. In his lawyer reverie, he’s seen standing next to Raymond Burr as Perry Mason, with a cheering citizen in the background; the reality shows him falling off a soapbox, dropping a “Zage for Congress” sign, and looking as if he’s about to be run through by the sword of Lady Justice.
There’s a very funny glossary at the end of the book, described as being “for parents who have struggled to stay awake at night while reading a bedtime story to their children,” but its helpfulness in that circumstance is debatable. If your daughter asks you what “wallow” means, will telling her “Loll about like a pig in slop, cutting unsavory deals under the table” really end the questioning? Perhaps a few less of these references would have made the connection between ambition and reality easier to discern. Nevertheless, Ambition aims high, as it should, and, for the most part, succeeds.
(February, 2012) HEATHER SEGGEL
http://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/ambitions-not-an-awful-word/
The words and layout work together to make Ambition's Not an Awful Word a success. Illustrator and 2006 Golden Addy Award winner Adam Watkins portrays Zack’s proclaimed fantasy on one page: When Zack wants to be a doctor, he’s shown in an office with cabinets full of toys, drawers full of candy, and a young girl sitting on the exam table while he makes notes on a pad. On the facing page, Zack himself is on the table, clutching his scraped knee to his chest, and the candy has been replaced by the requisite peroxide and cotton balls. In his lawyer reverie, he’s seen standing next to Raymond Burr as Perry Mason, with a cheering citizen in the background; the reality shows him falling off a soapbox, dropping a “Zage for Congress” sign, and looking as if he’s about to be run through by the sword of Lady Justice.
There’s a very funny glossary at the end of the book, described as being “for parents who have struggled to stay awake at night while reading a bedtime story to their children,” but its helpfulness in that circumstance is debatable. If your daughter asks you what “wallow” means, will telling her “Loll about like a pig in slop, cutting unsavory deals under the table” really end the questioning? Perhaps a few less of these references would have made the connection between ambition and reality easier to discern. Nevertheless, Ambition aims high, as it should, and, for the most part, succeeds.
(February, 2012) HEATHER SEGGEL
http://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/ambitions-not-an-awful-word/
Ahgoo Review
Everything about this book is AMAZING!
Very rarely do I read a book that speaks to me let alone one that shouts to me. This is one of those books. The quality of the book is top notch and the story is one every child, overachiever or not, should read.
When I was a kid, maybe 11 or 12, a teacher of mine told me I wouldn’t amount to anything. She was a horrible old woman that was bitter and angry for no reason but it hurt me. Things teacher’s say to children make an impact whether those things be good or bad. Was I a great test taker? No. Was I awesome at math? No way. Was I good at writing? You betcha. But, this teacher, she was my reading teacher and she didn’t like my stories one bit. She thought I was too fantastical. She thought I was too wrapped up in my own head.
Well, when I published my first book at 17 I would have loved to shove it in her face to show her just what I had become. Every child dreams. Every child has high hopes and it is no one’s place to crush them. For a child, reason does not exist. Nor should it have to. If you want to own the moon, baby, it’s yours! If you want to be the best doctor in the world, you can be.
This book says, “Don’t listen to the naysayers. Keep your chin up and keep dreaming.” All of our dreams can come true if we just block out the negativity and let them.
Ivy Court Press is the publisher of this book and I am putting it in a special place for my daughter when she is old enough to comprehend it. It’s a special book of inspiration in the face of negativity. I loved it! It’s a five star book for sure!
(March, 2012) LEANNE MCGINTY
http://ahgooreview.com/2012/03/ambitions-not-an-awful-word/
Very rarely do I read a book that speaks to me let alone one that shouts to me. This is one of those books. The quality of the book is top notch and the story is one every child, overachiever or not, should read.
When I was a kid, maybe 11 or 12, a teacher of mine told me I wouldn’t amount to anything. She was a horrible old woman that was bitter and angry for no reason but it hurt me. Things teacher’s say to children make an impact whether those things be good or bad. Was I a great test taker? No. Was I awesome at math? No way. Was I good at writing? You betcha. But, this teacher, she was my reading teacher and she didn’t like my stories one bit. She thought I was too fantastical. She thought I was too wrapped up in my own head.
Well, when I published my first book at 17 I would have loved to shove it in her face to show her just what I had become. Every child dreams. Every child has high hopes and it is no one’s place to crush them. For a child, reason does not exist. Nor should it have to. If you want to own the moon, baby, it’s yours! If you want to be the best doctor in the world, you can be.
This book says, “Don’t listen to the naysayers. Keep your chin up and keep dreaming.” All of our dreams can come true if we just block out the negativity and let them.
Ivy Court Press is the publisher of this book and I am putting it in a special place for my daughter when she is old enough to comprehend it. It’s a special book of inspiration in the face of negativity. I loved it! It’s a five star book for sure!
(March, 2012) LEANNE MCGINTY
http://ahgooreview.com/2012/03/ambitions-not-an-awful-word/
Home School Book Review
Rating: 5 stars (EXCELLENT)
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you make it? Or if you are a kid, what do you want to become? Zack Zage is a student in Ms. Grundy’s fourth grade class, and the theme for the year is “What I want to be.” Zack raises his hand to go first, but the teacher insists on proceeding alphabetically, starting with Ann A. When Zack finally gets his turn, he tells how he might want to be an astronaut, a cowpoke, a singer, a chef, an artist, a doctor, an architect, a banker, a lawyer, or a writer, but in each case some reason is given why he can’t do that. The other kids tease him as an exaggerating boaster. What can his mom say to him that night so that he won’t feel so down?
When you think of some of our nation’s greatest inventors—the telegraph’s Samuel F. B. Morse, the telephone’s Alexander Graham Bell, the automobile factory’s Henry Ford, the electric light’s Thomas Edison, the airplane’s Wilbur and Orville Wright, and so on—they all started out as normal kids with big ambitions. Unfortunately, in some neighborhoods today, children who want to study hard and receive a good education so that they can get ahead in life are laughed at and made fun of. Ambition is one of the most important traits that kids can develop. Author Zack Zage grew up in a small town in North Carolina with all the ambitions of a normal youngster. Ambition’s Not An Awful Word, with its text in humorous verse and the fabulous illustrations by Adam Watkins, will encourage children as it reminds them that “it’s OK to dream.” And the glossary at the end is as uproariously funny as the story!
(March, 2012) WAYNE S. WALKER
Heartland Reviews
This is a very cute story about a young boy, Zack, with big dreams. His teacher devises a class project based on what her students want to be. Zack tries to barge into the class’s alphabetic order for responses, but his teacher puts a stop to that. When his turn finally comes, he portrays what it would be like to become an astronaut on the moon, a bull-riding cowboy, an opera singer, a chef, an artist, a doctor, an architect, a banker, a lawyer, and a columnist. In each case, someone puts him down, proving he’s not likely to become any of these things. When his mother tucks him in that night, however, she tells him it’s OK to dream and that “ambition” isn’t an awful word.
At the back of the book is a Glossary for the parents that is very funny. The text throughout the book is attention catching and the illustrations are top-rated cartoons that really convey what the text is saying. Frankly, adults will get even more chuckles out of this book than the kids. It’s very tongue in cheek and memory provoking. Protagonist Zack reminds me of my own son when he was growing up and always coming up with big dreams. We rated this book 5 out of 5 hearts with a total of 97% (our highest rating).
(March, 2012) BOB SPEAR
At the back of the book is a Glossary for the parents that is very funny. The text throughout the book is attention catching and the illustrations are top-rated cartoons that really convey what the text is saying. Frankly, adults will get even more chuckles out of this book than the kids. It’s very tongue in cheek and memory provoking. Protagonist Zack reminds me of my own son when he was growing up and always coming up with big dreams. We rated this book 5 out of 5 hearts with a total of 97% (our highest rating).
(March, 2012) BOB SPEAR
Other Reviews!
http://midnight-orchids.blogspot.com/2012/08/ambitions-not-awful-word-by-zack-zage.html
http://www.mariasspace.com/2012/08/ambitions-not-awful-word-by-zack-zage.htmlhttp://www.chicago3media.com/ambition%E2%80%99s-not-awful-wordhttp://huppiemama.com/?p=3144
http://www.greeneyedmomma.com/2012/08/book-review-ambitions-not-awful-word.html
http://connywithay.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/ambitions-not-an-awful-word/
http://dadofdivas-reviews.blogspot.com/2012/09/book-review-ambitions-not-awful-word.html
http://libraryofcleanreads.blogspot.ca/2012/09/kid-konnection-ambitions-not-awful-word.html
http://www.thesimplemoms.com/2012/09/ambitions-not-an-awful-word-book-by-zack-zage-giveaway.html
http://lifetakesover.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/ambitions-not-an-awful-word-a-book-review/
http://www.weidknecht.com/2012/09/childrens-book-review-ambitions-not.html
Ambition's Not An Awful Word ©2012 Ivy Court Press