ZOOM!

ZOOM! By Diane Adams

This week I scanned the shelves of my public library in my hometown of St. Charles, IL to see what I could find. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, just browsing for anything that would catch my eye. It brought me back a little bit, looking in the kids section, since I haven't been down there in a while. I reminisced on the days where I used to sit in the circus wagon and get lost in different children's books while my parents explored the adult section upstairs. During today's excursion, I came across the book called ZOOM! by Diane Adams. The brightly colored cover caught my attention, and it just looked like a fun book to read. It is about a little boy and his dad who visit an amusement park. At first, the little boy's dad encourages his son to go on it even though the little boy is afraid, but by the end of the story, it's the little boy who drags his dad back on the coaster for one more go!

This book is short, however it teaches a few important literary techniques. It introduces rhyming and descriptive words. Words to describe the coaster ride were "zigging, zagging, click-click-clacking, zooming, lurching, rumbling, slipping, sliding, creaking, squeaking," and on one occasion, the author has the word "AAAAAAHHH!" spread across two pages, painted into the illustration. This is a great book to introduce these basic concepts, and I would greatly consider using it with younger children and having them come up with instances, memories, stories, etc where they would need to include descriptor words on their own.