Zazzy Z The Last Letter

By Helen Addyman. Shortlistee of the Best Children’s Picture Book Text competition 2023

[Illustration note: where the speaker is denoted only by the letter and there is no dialogue tag, these are speech bubbles]

Spread 1

The trouble began when the letters were practising the alphabet…

W: W

X: X

Y: Y

Z: Z

‘Excellent work, fellow letters,’ said A. ‘A perfect alphabet, as always.’

‘Perfect?’ said Z. ‘When a letter as zazzy as me is stuck at the end?’

‘That’s just the way it is,’ shrugged A.

‘Well, not any more,’ declared Z. ‘From now on, the alphabet will be reversed and I’ll call it…

Spread 2

‘…the Alpha-better! Z is for zany, zigzaggy zebras…’

S giggled. ‘Zebras don’t have zigzags−they have stripes.’

‘Huh, fine,’ sighed Z dramatically. ‘Z is for…’

Continued…