Author: Zack Zage    Illustrator: Adam Watkins

Publisher: Ivy Court Press

ISBN: 978-0-9836078-2-3

Negativity dampens creativity, especially in children. Ambition is a mandatory skill and obtainable goal. In Zack Zage’s children’s book, “Ambition’s Not An Awful Word, this quick story helps children and adults see the value in having ambition and wanting to strive to be someone special in life.

This unnumbered but around twenty-page oversized hardcover book has a beautifully depicted painting of a boy taking a rocket ship to space against a purple-starred background. The book is geared toward young children but may be actually enjoyed more by adults, especially those educated in the arts, literature and music who read out loud to children. Each page has a rhyming paragraph on it, with a positive tone about a career on the left side of the page and a negative on the right side. The font may be hard for young children to read by themselves. Each drawing is exquisite, detailed and exciting in both color and theme, easily captivating a reader or viewer of any age.

Zach Zage, both author and main character in the book, writes in first person about himself while in fourth grade in school. Resenting he is the last person alphabetically, he finally gets his chance to stand up in front of the class and talk about what he wants to be when he grows up. If it is an astronaut, cowboy, singer, chef, artist, doctor, architect, banker, lawyer or writer, he explains with excitement why he wants to be that vocation and then is shot down on the negativity of choosing it. However, it ends with his mom reiterating that it is OK to dream of such exciting professions and have ambition.

The book mentions several people, places or things that some young children may not know such as haiku, Andromeda, Brahma bulls, capella, maestro, DaVinci, hypochondriac, Eiffel Tower, stockholders, Congress and Dickens, but smartly provides a five page glossary to explain every unique, big word or famous person or place.

Due to the cleverness of not only the rhyming of Zage but also the creative artwork of Watkins, this is an exceptional tool to teach young children not only to enjoy reading and learning, but to remember that ambition is a wonderful goal to achieve in life. It is time to stop negatively telling our children what they cannot do but to encourage them to desire and obtain something they want to do. This book is spot-on in establishing hope, dreams and purpose to the next generation.

Follow Here To Purchase Ambition's Not An Awful Word