De zebra is ontvoerd door de gemene meneer Spuug en de zebra-ouders zijn gevangengenomen. Gelukkig krijgen Mink en Storm hulp van hond Regenboog en eekhoorn Rodentia om te traceren waar ze zijn. Er ontstaat een plan voor een spannende ontsnappingspoging bij een groot oud huis in niemandsland. Maar is het uitvoerbaar?

Rundell and Ogilvie share the space so well in what is a delightfully inspired partnership from Bloomsbury. At times, Rundell’s narrative dominates but is always accompanied by Ogilivie’s richly-coloured vignettes. At other times, the words are reduced so that the watercolour, pen and print illustrations can dominate: the escape of the animals from their cages is an absolute delight and a real cavalcade of colour and energy. It is clear that Ogilvie has spent time with the text and chosen key moments to represent with real care. With no time to lose, Mink encourages Gabriel to find his inner warhorse and fight for his parents’ freedom. Employing the help of two more creatures, a cantankerous but delightful dog called Rainbow and a ledgerdemain-proficient squirrel named Rodentina, they head off in search of the evil, Terry-Thomas-inspired, Mr. Spit. Can they find the courage, wit and tenacity to win the day? Wie meer van Rundell heeft gelezen ziet in dit geweldige verhaal thema’s terug: dieren, vrijheid, natuur en zelfredzaamheid. Mink en de dierenhulpen bedenken een vindingrijk plan tegen de verzamelwoede van meneer Spuug. Regenboog houdt van niemand, maar helpt Mink toch. Uiteindelijk zijn er nog veel meer dieren die Regenboog, Storm, Mink en Rodentia helpen. Samen staan ze sterk!Mink, Storm, de hond Regenboog en eekhoorn Rodentia trommelen al hun vrienden op om de dieren uit hun kooien te bevrijden.

I think deciding on the A-Z of animals was some of the most fun I've ever had. X was the hardest: in the end I chose two xoloitzcuintli, a hairless dog from Mexico: 'xolo', for short. KATHERINE: Yes, exactly that! - to both ask for help, and to hear the call when it comes. I wanted to say: those who ask for help often create the potential for change: for something new, and more generous, to take shape. Coffee house Caffè Nero has announced the 16-strong shortlist for the inaugural Nero Book Awards, recognising the outstanding books of the past 12... In this one our brave MC Mink meets a little zebra who is all lost! His parents got stolen away and he hopes that Mink is the one who will help him. Well, he has found the right girl, because Mink is all in on helping him out. I really liked Mink, she was brave, fun, sweet. I loved how they planned things, because of course you cannot just head into like that. You need to know how, what, why, where. You can’t just run around the country willynilly. And I loved what Mink’s plan was and hope that this also means she found a new friend. I loved seeing the message travel all over the country. From mouse to bird to talkative rabbits/bunnies to eventually the place they will find what they are looking for. De zebra brieste en stampte met zijn hoef, en de kleuren warrelden twee keer zo fel en krachtig. Plotseling vóélde ze met absolute zekerheid wat de zebra zei. Ze voelde het tintelen in haar vingertoppen en langs haar hele ruggengraat.”

By Author / Illustrator

The illustrations expand the text and complement the written word. They also add humour to the scene and lighten the mood. Along with the cranky dog who bargains for a bone, all the animals are shown as eager to help. A delightful magical book about a girl who meets a zebra (or a zebra meets her) and she gets into a grand adventure. Then an adventurous trip happens and I was just all in for it. I loved seeing the countryside fly by as our zebra (or as the dog calls him barcode-horse) rushed to get to his family. Things got very exciting (and maybe a bit scary) when we saw the place that the zebra family was brought to and who the owner was. I have no clue about his English name as I read this book in Dutch, but in Dutch he is called Mr. Spuug (Mr. Spit), which is just a perfect name for this awful horrible bad (and yes I could figure out a few more words for him) man. I loved how Mink stood her ground and loved what followed next. Which I won’t spoil, because haha, no. You will just have to find out. But it was magnificent.

Mink knows she has to help Gabriel the zebra. But how? He can’t live in her bedroom forever, cosy as it is. She chats to the neighbour’s dog, and soon a chain of animals is passing on the urgent message to look out for two zebras in a cage. Will they find Gabriel’s parents in time? Dapo Adeola, Tracy Darnton, Joseph Coelho and Chitra Soundar are among the 19 authors and illustrators longlisted for the Inclusive Books for Child... KATHERINE: Zebras seem to me to be so startling and different in their beauty: I wanted to write a book that would salute their loveliness.

Publisher

Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... Voor de gesproken tekst door de dieren is handig gebruik gemaakt van een ander lettertype zodat onderscheid kan worden gemaakt tussen Mink en haar dierenvrienden. De grotere ‘vertel-letter’ is prettig tijdens het interactieve voorlezen. Hond Regenboog en eekhoorn Rodentia hebben een eigen vorm en manier van praten met Mink. Regenboog maakt gebruik van veel kleuren en Rodentia van scharlakenrode en blauwe plaatjes. Een goede vormgeving in taal en beeld maken het één geheel. De geweldige zebra-ontsnapping’ is echt een spannend, grappig én hartverwarmend verhaal. Het is een mooie overgang van prentenboek naar leesboek, maar zeker ook een ideaal voorleesboek. De tekst is verspreid over een zestigtal bladzijden mét prachtige illustraties van Sara Ogilvie. Die prenten zijn echt een enorme verrijking op elke pagina, zo speels en wervelend. De wervelende illustraties van Sara Ogilvie zijn een feest om naar te kijken, je wordt vrolijk van de kleine illustraties tussen de tekst of juist van de spectaculaire paginagrote! De speelsheid spat ervan af. Een grote grinnik om Mink die de zebra even de trap opduwt, snel verstopt voor haar vader, maar ook Storm wordt realistisch weergegeven als hij verdrietig en boos is. Voorbeelden zijn ook de gemene meneer Spuug, de tevreden blikken van Mink en Storm ’s avonds in bed of de moedeloze gevangen dieren. De ontroerende eindplaten maken alle spanning goed. Ogilvie laat in haar illustraties zien dat lichaamstaal en mimiek veel vertelt.

What inspired the story? Do you keep an ideas notebook with you at all times so you don't miss any good ideas? SARA: There were a few. Mainly the spreads that needed to show the full alphabet of animal pairs collected by Mr Spit. I really loved drawing them all but the varying sizes of them meant getting creative with positioning small creatures in places they'd be seen. Elephant trunk ends and little animals grabbing onto ears offered good solutions.SARA: I'd look after and research collections in a museum. Somewhere endlessly intriguing like the Pitt Rivers Museum. Or perhaps be a florist as your workplace work would always smell lovely. KATHERINE: A girl, Mink, is playing on the swing near her home when she hears a noise, goes flying and bumps her head. The noise was a baby zebra called Gabriel and the bump has shaken something loose: now she can understand animals, through pictures and colours behind her eyes. Het verhaal toont hoe dapper Mink is, hoe samenwerken tot een goed resultaat leidt, hoe belangrijk familie en vrienden zijn. Het is misschien even wennen aan de communicatie via kleuren, maar dit wordt wel duidelijk in beeld gebracht. Origineel bedacht!