By Matt Diffee
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection
Society of Illustrators Original Art selection
2026 ALSC Notable Children’s Book
2026 Kids’ Favorites Award selection
2026 Capitol Choices selection
2027 Oklahoma Redbud Read-Aloud selection
2026–2027 Volunteer State Book Awards nominee
2026 Texas 2x2 Reading List selection
2026–2027 Beehive Award nominee
Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year
New York Times Best Book of the Year
ALSC 2026 Summer Reading List selection
Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year
★"Wax and pleasingly shaded colored pencil art on tawny pages features deftly expressive animals in otherwise spare, earnestly pastoral scenes that contrast with the wryly funny plot. The characters’ nonchalant rapport is well conveyed, with text rendered in a clean serif font of varying scale for added visual oomph. Clever humor and a fresh take on a seemingly familiar scene make this a widely appealing, expertly paced, and wonderfully silly read-aloud. Unexpected and delightfully absurd."
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Delightfully deadpan entertainment.”
—The New York Times
“Mr. Diffee’s artwork—all elegant, retro lines and jaunty patches of pastel—and wisecracking dialogue give these creamy pages a wonderful sense of buoyancy. . . . [A] humorous and humane read-aloud for children ages 4-8.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Diffee offers a book that will delight children and caregivers alike. . . . Working well as both a read-aloud and for one-to-one experiences, this purchase is for collections needing wry humor and a funny treat for all to enjoy.”
—School Library Journal
"Consistently funny and consistently surprising, the books constantly subverts expectations. With straightforward text and soft, realistic illustrations, it at first appears to be a classic, even old-fashioned farm story, but from the way it plays with language to the introduction of an alien, it's anything but. The moral is delivered in a way that will make young readers think about the merits of sharing, rather than feel like they're getting a lecture. Zip Zap Wickety Wack is sure to quickly become a go-to title for any adults faced with kids struggling to share."
—Booklist
“At first glance, cartoonist Diffee’s children’s book debut appears to be a slightly dusty farmyard tale featuring oversize serif typography, elegant wax and colored pencil illustrations in burnished hues, and predictable animals making familiar sounds (“The cow says, ‘Moo.’ The horse says, ‘Neigh.’ ”). But when a goat pauses after the sheep’s “baa,” noting that the two share a manner of communicating, the story begins to gleefully and irreverently unravel. Pressed to come up with a noise that no one else emits, the sheep finally lands on a doozey: “Zip Zap Big Bang Flip Flap Wing Wickety Wack Walla Balla Yackety Yack Ding Dilly!” Then a tiny flying saucer appears, piloted by an extraterrestrial who begs to differ. The alien launches into a sermonette on the values of “wiffling” (also known as sharing), but the being’s platitudes quickly deflate when the animals show interest in sharing the spaceship. The alien’s selfishness makes the barnyard animals feel empathetic by comparison, and an amusing kind of logic brings humor to the book’s peaceful conclusion."
—Publishers Weekly
“Never has a primer about farm animal sounds gone off the rails in such a delightfully engaging way.”
—BookPage