Jenna Fischer
These clever poems will unlock your imagination and bring laughs to your belly. My daughter and I loved Zilot!
Henry Winkler
Bob and his daughter have created a book for bedtime, wake time, any ol’ time at all!
Scott Aukerman
Bob and I once had a conversation about how he was going to start a family so he could write a children’s book with them. Hats off to a true 3-D chess player!
Carol Burnett
Everyone should have a family like the Odenkirks, who, in this delightful book, share their love of reading, art, and whimsy with all of us.
first National Ambassador for Young People’s Jon Scieszka
If you DON’T want to read funny, heartfelt, wild poems with perfect illustrations . . . don’t read this book!
bestselling author of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwic Adam Rex
Utterly charming. An invitation inside the Odenkirks’ pillow fort, and you should accept.
Tig Notaro
It is my civic duty to demand that you and your entire family read this wonderfully ridiculous book written and illustrated by a wonderfully ridiculous family called the Odenkirks.
David Cross
Snuggle up, get a fire going, and read these delightful, thoughtful, and brilliantly illustrated poems. The fire MUST be within a safety-compliant fireplace or outdoors in a four-by-six firepit.
bestselling author of I’m Just No Good at Rh Chris Harris
You’ll laugh and ‘aw’ and sniffle and snort and sigh. Sidesplittingly hilarious!
From the Publisher
A Barnes & Noble Book of the Year Finalist
An Amazon Best Book of the Month
A 2023 Nerdy Book Club Award Winner
* “In the same vein as…Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky, Odenkirk’s poems beg to be read out loud…Highly recommended for those looking to freshen up their collections of silly poetry.”—School Library Journal, starred review
* "Zilot strikes the perfect balance as a gift that will inspire repeated bedtime reading.”—BookPage, starred review
“Silliness abounds throughout the 70-plus disparate poems, each featuring…illustrations that radiate enthusiastic quirkiness.”—Publishers Weekly
“This collection of silly poems will make the entire family LOL."—Parents, "The Ultimate Summer Reading List for Kids and Teens"
“Snuggle up, get a fire going, and read these delightful, thoughtful, and brilliantly illustrated poems. The fire MUST be within a safety-compliant fireplace or outdoors in a four-by-six firepit.” —David Cross, actor, comedian, writer, honorary fire safety marshal
“You’ll laugh and ‘aw’ and sniffle and snort and sigh. Sidesplittingly hilarious!” —Chris Harris, bestselling author of I’m Just No Good at Rhyming
“These clever poems will unlock your imagination and bring laughs to your belly. My daughter and I loved Zilot!” —Jenna Fischer, actor, author, podcaster
“If you DON’T want to read funny, heartfelt, wild poems with perfect illustrations . . . don’t read this book!”—Jon Scieszka, first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
“Bob and I once had a conversation about how he was going to start a family so he could write a children’s book with them. Hats off to a true 3-D chess player!” —Scott Aukerman, comedian, writer, host of Comedy Bang! Bang!
“Utterly charming. An invitation inside the Odenkirks’ pillow fort, and you should accept.” —Adam Rex, bestselling author of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and On Account of the Gum
“Bob and his daughter have created a book for bedtime, wake time, any ol’ time at all!”—Henry Winkler, actor, co-author of the bestselling Hank Zipzer series
“Everyone should have a family like the Odenkirks, who, in this delightful book, share their love of reading, art, and whimsy with all of us.” —Carol Burnett, actor, author, legend
“It is my civic duty to demand that you and your entire family read this wonderfully ridiculous book written and illustrated by a wonderfully ridiculous family called the Odenkirks.”—Tig Notaro, actor, comedian, writer
Kirkus Reviews
2023-08-12
Poems on various topics by the actor/screenwriter and his kids.
In collaboration with his now-grown children—particularly daughter Erin, who adds gently humorous vignettes and spot art to each entry—Bob Odenkirk, best known for his roles in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, dishes up a poetic hodgepodge that is notably loose jointed in the meter and rhyme departments. The story also too often veers from child-friendly subjects (bedtime-delaying tactics, sympathy for a dog with the zoomies) to writerly whines (“The be-all and end-all of perfection in scribbling, / no matter and no mind to any critical quibbling”). Some of the less-than-compelling lines describe how a “plane ride is an irony / with a strange and wondrous duplicity.” A few gems are buried in the bunch, however, like the comforting words offered to a bedroom monster and a frightened invisible friend, not to mention an invitation from little Willy Whimble, who lives in a tuna can but has a heart as “big as can be. / Come inside, / stay for dinner. / I’ll roast us a pea!” They’re hard to find, though. Notwithstanding nods to Calef Brown, Shel Silverstein, and other gifted wordsmiths in the acknowledgments, the wordplay in general is as artificial as much of the writing: “I scratched, then I scrutched / and skrappled away, / scritching my itch with great / pan-a-ché…” Human figures are light-skinned throughout.
A lackluster collection of verse enlivened by a few bright spots. (Poetry. 6-8)