Where’s Mr. Zip HC Review

 

Writer: Annie Auerbach

Illustrator: Elisa Patrissi

Publisher: Dynamite Kids

Price: $16.99

Release Date: February 12, 2025

 

Everyone knows Mr. Zip. He brings mail and packages to homes and businesses. But where does Mr. Zip travel while delivering mail? What kind of adventures does he have? Let's grab our mailbags, leap into Where's Mr. Zip HC, and find out!

 

Story

No one likes going out when it rains. But Mr. Zip braves slippery streets and traffic accidents because people need his letters and packages. Besides, even when the weather is poor, being a postal carrier takes him to interesting places. There's always a lot going on in the city, and Mr. Zip visits the people who tell everyone all about it.

 

While delivering mail to workers in amusement parks and aquariums in Where’s Mr. Zip, he also helps people get where they need to go. Mr. Zip delivers mail to busy transport hubs like train stations and airports. Amid the hustle and bustle, the postal carrier and B Franklin see the interconnections that bind society together.

 

After giving us a peek into his daily routine in Mr. Zip's Windy Day HC, Annie Auerbach reveals all the places his career takes him. In Where's Mr. Zip HC, the US Postal Service is like any other big business. They need their best workers to help at other locations. Travel enriches Mr. Zip's life, and seeing all the different ways people work, live, and play makes the mail carrier's job more enjoyable.

 

Art

Elisa Patrissi may not be Richard Scarry, but she packs pages with people going about their daily activities. People enjoy work, recreation, and family time while driving, walking, playing, canoeing, swimming, surfing, or ice skating. Mr. Zip delivers mail to people of different cultures and ethnicities as they watch a parade, wait in line, and make snowmen. Readers share the recipients' joy in Mr. Zip's visits when it is raining, snowing, or the sun is shining.

 

While showing the diversity of city life, Where’s Mr. Zip HC takes the postal carrier into the country. Farmers take a break from caring for their animals to greet him, and Mr. Zip rewards a horse with a treat. He visits farms where food grows, letting children imagine how it will reach their homes. The richly colored fields give way to the dark green woods, where Mr. Zip delivers news and goods to people living in secluded forest homes. 

 

Wherever Mr. Zip travels, his friend accompanies him. B. Franklin brings his cheery face to meet animals and make new friends. Big black letters in white fields explain what occurs on each double-page spread. The words at the bottom of each page highlight people, animals, and objects in the art. Thanks to Dynamite Kids for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Mr. Zip doesn't just work at one post office. He fills in at different branches. Readers learn how the US Postal Service meets the needs of people wherever they live. As children watch Mr. Zip and B. Franklin explore the world and make friends, an interactive feature prompts readers to find specific people, objects, and animals in the art. With Where's Mr Zip HC, children of any age contemplate their place in the world and the diversity of the United States.

 

Rating 10/10

Stop That Penguin HC Review

 

Writer: Annie Auerbach

Artist & Colorist: Kyle Beckett

Publisher: Dynamite

Price: $14.99

Release Date: January 29, 2025

 

Considering a visit to the North Pole? Yanni the Yeti wants to show you what makes Santa's village great. You can't go wrong by booking a tour with Yanni. Or can you? Let's grab a thermos of hot cocoa, leap into Stop That Penguin HC, and find out!

 

Story

Yanni may be new to this tour guide lark. Still, he carries an official flag. What could be easier than showing off all the places that make Santa's community sparkle? Yanni dazzles his guests with a visit to Reindeer School. The children see young reindeer training in the athletic feats they must master to pull Santa's sleigh. Yanni can't remember Robbie, but he drops enough familiar names to remind children of the importance of physical education.

 

In Stop That Penguin HC, Yanni’s next stop is the Observatory. The Yeti leads his charges up steps inside a tower to join the elf at one of the telescopes. The astronomy elves track Santa so he doesn't get lost during his around-the-world jaunts. Another stop is Santa's workshop, where the elves oversee an automated assembly line. These elves have studied robotics. They programmed the toy-making robots to ensure everyone on Santa's Nice List gets a Tickle Me Elmo, Turbo Man action figure, or whatever hot new toy the good kiddies want.

 

While Annie Auerbach teaches children the importance of physical education and science, she throws her Yeti a curveball. Yanni doesn’t realize that penguins reside at the North Pole. One accompanies Yanni on the tour. But then the penguin gets impatient and captures Yanni's flag. The penguin leads the children to places Yanni would fear to tread, such as Santa's Study. Yanni discovers that more tuxedoed Happy Feet have immigrated from Antarctica to help the elves up north. In Stop The Penguin HC, Yanni realizes he has lost control. He must recapture the flag, or people will start booking penguin-guided tours instead!

 

Art

Kyle Beckett shows the elves putting young reindeer through their paces. The elves carry clipboards, move hurdles on the track, and struggle to ground a novice flyer. Giant radar dishes surround the towers rising from the snow while an elf at ground level studies a computer monitor. Then, Yanni leads the children to the Snowman Mountain Ice Hotel. Unlike Gustav Graves' ice palace in Die Another Day, drones bring steaming mugs of cocoa to the guests.

 

Amid the cats, dogs, birds, and elves at the North Pole, Yanni is the most appealing character in Stop The Penguin HC. His blue fur evokes a Christmas tree. His large eyes and expressions indicate how much Yanni enjoys leading tours and fears losing his job.

 

Kyle Beckett paints his whimsical characters and buildings with bright and attractive colors. The colorful faces suggest that everyone is welcome in Santa's country. Orange and yellow fill the sky over the immense red Cookie Factory. Perhaps it is the source of the Northern Lights? Cutaways reveal a blue interior filled with talented elves and penguin immigrants. Trains deliver cookies, biscuits, and milk to the workers.

 

Large, bold, lowercase black letters show Yanni's dialogue, while words swell and change color for intonation or volume. White or colored uppercase letters introduce each new location or building. The lettering appears in colored backgrounds or white space between vignettes. When Yanni finally makes his play, the Yeti speaks large uppercase red letters into a dialogue balloon. A yellow-and-pink effect helps us hear his desperate attempt to reclaim his flag. Thanks to Dynamite for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

When Yanni leads a tour of the North Pole, a black-and-white miscreant takes over the Yeti's job. Stop That Penguin HC reveals the importance of school and sports and how immigration and diversity make the North Pole one of the most wondrous places on Earth.

 

Rating 9.4/10 

 

This review originally published at Comic Book Dispatch.

Mr. Zip's Windy Day Hardcover Review

 

Writer: Annie Auerbach

Illustrator: Laura Catrinella

Publisher: Curiosity Books

Price: $10.99

Release Date: October 18, 2023

 

What happens at the Post Office? How does mail reach your home? What problems might prevent your mail from arriving? Let's peer inside the Mr. Zip’s Windy Day Hardcover and find out!

 

Story

Mr. Zip and his partner, B. Franklin, sort any letters and packages that arrive at the Post Office. While Mr. Zip drives his mail truck, sometimes he needs to get out and walk. His partner, B. Franklin, also helps. The eagle can travel faster than Mr. Zip can walk and deliver mail to upper-floor apartments.

 

Annie Auerbach doesn’t explore how Mr. Zip and B. Franklin cope with rain or snow. But Mr. Zip’s Windy Day Hardcover shows how wind can send envelopes flying and reveals an unsung aspect of the mail carrier's duties.

 

Art

Laura Catrinella enlivens characters with expressive faces and gestures. Cute and unexpected touches include a squirrel carrying an acorn across the street, a mailbox with eyes and a mouth, and B. Franklin clinging to a lamppost. The colors are soft and appealing, and the text is easy to read. Children can make even more discoveries using the Lift-the-Flap feature in Mr. Zip’s Windy Day Hardcover. I wonder what the flaps hide?

 

Thanks to Curiosity Books and Dynamite Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Children discover how mail reaches their homes and learn about their mail carrier's duties in Mr. Zip's Windy Day Hardcover.

 

Rating 10/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.