Ozzie & Prince Zebedee

by Gela Kalaitzidis

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Elephant and Piggie, Narwhal and Jelly, Frank and Bean, and now, Ozzie and Prince Zebedee. Gela Kalaitzidi's debut picture book about best friends and best friend problems is a heartwarming, fresh tale that also conjures up the warmth of a nostalgic classic. If you like Dragons Love Tacos, Knight Owl or, if you like really sweet and silly, heartfelt stories told in 40 pages or less — Ozzie and Prince Zebedee is for you.

Dragons Love Tacos meets Where the Wild Things Are in this rollicking story about the mishaps of a best friend duo from debut author and illustrator Gela Kalaitzidis.

Ozzie and Prince Zebedee are the best of friends. They do everything together, but things change when Prince Zebedee accuses Ozzie of cheating and Ozzie swallows up Prince Zebedee in one big GULP!

Before too long, an emotional Ozzie has crunched up half the town while a stubborn Prince Zebedee refuses to leave the dragon's tummy until he apologizes.

With wit and charm, Gela Kalaitzidis has crafted a tale of love, forgiveness, and empathy in one hilarious package.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593464182
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	10/11/2022
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	239,990
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Gela Kalaitzidis grew up an only child among trolls, elves, and other mystical forest creatures. She developed an affection for dreaming, drawing, and reading, which earned her a degree in fine art and later a job within digital media. She now works as a digital artist for Hollywood blockbuster movies.

Gela has by now made Robert Downey Jr. fly, made Brad Pitt age backward, sank Johnny Depp in numerous pirate ships, and exploded just about everything on-screen. The stories of Gela Kalaitzidis’ are inspired by these adventures, but with way less explosions!

Gela lives in Venice Beach with three children, a Greek husband, too many cats, a lizard, a hamster, and an endless number of stories to share. This is her first picture book.

Editorial Reviews

2022-07-27
The friendship of a dragon and a boy is tested by an act of anger.

Ozzie, a big green dragon, and Prince Zebedee, a tan-skinned boy with curly dark hair, are great friends who “made beautiful music together” and “kept each other’s feet warm” cuddling at night. But a card game at the edge of a forest creates a rift in the relationship when the prince accuses Ozzie of cheating. Ozzie, angered, eats the prince. The prince is safely, stubbornly inside the dragon’s huge belly, but he still refuses to speak to Ozzie. Ozzie, saddened, eats up chunks of a village, because “sometimes when dragons are lonely, they make bad choices.” Of course, the two eventually reconcile; the town and Ozzie are regurgitated but not before both friends learn a little about anger management and forgiveness. Digital artist Kalaitzidis’ debut picture book is most notable for the expressiveness of its characters. Whether they are furious or blissfully at play, Ozzie and Zebedee make a charming pair against detail-filled, clever backgrounds. An older, tan-skinned character seen knitting in the backgrounds of many pages, for instance, appears to be Kalaitzidis herself, judging from the cover-flap author picture. While the text never quite soars, the illustrations and the overall story feel true and relatable even if most friends don’t eat each other. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A fun pair of characters and a good friendship lesson make for a worthy dragon tale. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews