About the Book
Imagine if our pets could travel the world with us.
What adventures would they have? What trouble would they get into? What friends would they make?
In the Travels with Zozo... series of illustrated children's books for ages 4-8 years old, a fun-loving family of four brings their pet bunny, Zozo, on their trips around the world, and Zozo's escapades are bound to amaze, amuse, and inspire you.
Author A.J. Atlas' extensive travel experiences in nearly fifty countries and throughout all fifty U.S. states provide firsthand insight into the settings for the books. Award-winning illustrator Anne Zimanski uses bright colors and expert digital artistry to turn the real-life places into beautifully colorful, imaginative worlds for Zozo and readers to explore. She adds an abundance of charm and heart to the culturally-diverse characters whom Zozo meets, and she packs Zozo's sweet, little, furry face full of emotion. Then, together, Atlas and Zimanski keep the pages filled with goofy gags and funny antics. So many, in fact, that rereading the stories is sure to surprise you with something new and keep you laughing.
The third book in the exciting, new series, Travels with Zozo...on the Reef, takes readers to the world's largest coral reef, Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The brilliantly blue waters teeming with fish of all shapes and colors set a vibrant scene for Zozo's underwater journey.
After helicopter and boat rides over the majestic reef, a dream sequence takes Zozo swimming underwater and riding on a giant spotted eagle ray to watch a race between whales, sharks, and other large fish in the reef.
Zozo's adventure brings her up close to the whimsically illustrated reef residents-goofy, golfing crabs, a sea star doing standup comedy, cheering seahorses, sailfish, parrot fish, and a multitude of other fish. The sea life adds depth and richness (and laughs!) to the beautiful watery landscape showcased in this premium full-color 32-page book.
Children and grownups alike are sure to fall in love with the "hoppity, floppity, huggable, snuggable" pet bunny, Zozo, in this beautifully-illustrated, pint-sized tropical travel log. They will be amazed by the detailed illustrations of actual plants, animals, and landscapes of Australia while laughing at the goofy goings-on in every corner of the pages.
Bring your imagination and let Zozo be your guide to a world of amazing places!
About the Author :
A.J. Atlas is the creator of the Travels with Zozo... illustrated children's book series. The adventures follow an adorable pet bunny as she vacations around the world with her human family.
Writing a series with each story as completely unique as the place it's set in is a challenge Atlas enthusiastically embraces. Whether readers meet flamingos and viscachas on the Bolivian salt flats, elephants and baboons near Zambia and Zimbabwe's great waterfall, or Icelandic horses under the Northern Lights, the widely differing settings provide a backdrop for readers to meet diverse characters and rich cultures.
Atlas' extensive travel experiences in nearly fifty countries and throughout all fifty U.S. states provide firsthand insight into the settings for the books. From there, Atlas' whimsical sense of humor, active imagination, and creative storytelling abilities bring to life the emotions and adventures of the series' main character, a "hoppity, floppity, huggable, snuggable" pet bunny named Zozo. The series focuses on themes of making friends and strengthening family bonds while growing self-reliant and emotionally self-aware.
Though the first fourteen books of the series arrived on the scene all-at-once, the creation of Zozo developed slowly, over decades. It began with Atlas being a pet lover at heart who had long been denied a furry friend because of severe allergies. Throughout childhood, stuffed animals and a notebook helped channel this love toward storytelling. Then a zest for adventure travel took Atlas to wildly interesting places in adulthood, and the notebook filled with heart-warming stories blossomed further. Currently, Atlas continues to travel and write new stories while advising on the illustrations and production of the completed books in the series.
Atlas collaborates closely with award-winning illustrator Anne Zimanski. Together, they create rich, full-color 32-page books filled with bright, colorful, imaginative worlds, bursting with personalities, action, and emotion.
Likewise, Atlas works with publisher ImaginOn Books as they strive to make Travels with Zozo... their best travel series for young readers. Atlas' personal experiences combine with the publisher's extensive research on the landscapes, plants, and animals to create a rich sense of place in each book. The series explores Alaska's coastal islands, Norway's fjords, Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Bolivia's salt flats, Zambia and Zimbabwe's waterfall, ancient cities of Nara, Japan, and Istanbul, Turkey, Argentina's Andes Mountains, Iceland's Northern Lights, Belize's river caves, islands in Greece and the Eastern United States, Europe's Flemish and Basque regions, and many more places.
More information about A.J. Atlas is available at www.travelswithzozo.com.
Anne Zimanski is the illustrator of the Travels with Zozo... children's book series. The adventurous tales follow an adorable pet bunny and her human family as they visit people and places throughout the world.
Drawing the ever-changing, real-life locations, animals, and action in each book is an opportunity Zimanski wholeheartedly welcomes because it allows her expert skills as a freehand digital artist to broaden. Whether it's the intricacies of the natural world or the complexities of architectural marvels, Zimanski uses her keen eye for composition and a creative use of lighting to create bright, colorful settings. Upon these beautiful landscapes, Zimanski brings to life a sweet, lovable pet bunny, Zozo, and her animal friends. Zimanski's labor of love fills the series with an abundance of charm and heart, action and emotion, and a plentiful dose of whimsical humor.
Zimanski enjoys working with fun-loving writer A.J. Atlas. The collaboration brings out their healthy, competitive spirits as each tries to outdo the other in dreaming up one funny idea after the next. To date, Zimanski's favorite humorous gag is of a bear cleverly disguised in a hollow tree trunk stealing a sandwich, while Atlas leans toward the hilarious first flight of three baby birds, from their first, confident leaps out of the nest, followed immediately by the struggling, funny faces of gravity taking hold. But whether it's cute crabs golfing, sweet viscachas doing yoga, or goofy, pickpocketing baboons, each reader will enjoy the multi-dimensional illustrations in each 32-page book.
With the help of publisher ImaginOn Books, Zimanski has done extensive research for each book. The abundance of local plants and animals, as well as vibrant landscapes in each story, ensures that Zimanski always has something new and exciting to share with readers.
More information about Anne Zimanski is available at www.travelswithzozo.com.
Review :
Best ocean story for kidsThis story pulls young listeners in. First flying overhead to get a sense of the vastness of the reef. Then the fun family makes us all want to join them on their see-thru boat. When the full splendor of the reef is revealed for the first time it's unbelievably cheerful and full of festive fish. I really appreciate the flow of the story, the beauty of the illustrations, and how this book makes sea life incredibly interesting and fun for kids.
- reviewed by verified purchaser
i highly recommend iti read this book with my 7 year old and we liked it so much we reread it immediately! there's so so so much going on on every page and it's fun to look at the good quality illustrations, very detailed yet funny. Zozo is THE cutest! the story is simply delightful! you'll love it too. i highly recommend it.
- reviewed by verified purchaser
Solid Five StarsWhat an adorable and well done children's book! We bought this book as a gift and read it before we wrapped it up and loved it. I don't know how else to describe it but this book feels like a classic - the detail and beauty of the illustrations is incredible and seems like a throwback to the children's books we all grew up with - filled with adorable animals in humorous situations.
- reviewed by verified purchaser
AwesomeLove this book. Excellent quality. Definitely a favorite. Highly recommend for your kiddos!
- reviewed by verified purchaser
Inspires Conversation and Love of TravelBought the set of four Zozo's Travel books for our grandchildren (7, 5, 5, 4 y.o.) when we went for a visit. They were a big hit! Granddad and I loved them too! Had us reliving memories of our travels to Australia and our cruises in Alaska and Norway. The grandchildren loved to hear our stories after we read Zozo's books. The reading and conversations about these international places created a sense of wonder and curiosity about the world in our grandchildren that we think is important. We would highly recommend the books as gifts!
- reviewed by verified purchaser
Worth the money!Beautiful illustrations fun stories and we love the silly characters in the background. Plus we are all learning about cool places.
- reviewed by verified purchaser
Professional ReviewThe third installment of A.J. Atlas' Travels with Zozo... series takes readers to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Travels with Zozo...on the Reef follows the "hoppity, floppity, huggable, snuggable" bunny Zozo as she travels to Heron Island and the Great Barrier Reef with her family. While on her adventure, she witnesses an exciting race under the sea where the competitors are whales, sharks, sailfish, and other large, ocean-dwelling creatures. The story leaves readers with a sense of awe about the ocean and its inhabitants and is sure to please all ocean-loving readers.
Zozo mentions in this tale that she would need the "entire crayon box full of colors" to draw the sights she sees, and that is just what has been done in Travels with Zozo...on the Reef. Illustrator Anne Zimanski has filled the books pages with color and wonder, truly taking advantage of all the ocean theme has to offer. Each page is filled with secrets to find, and there is a whole world to discover on the reef in Atlas' tale.
For a full summary of reviews and awards, visit www.travelswithzozo.com.
