Z is for Zoot Suit

About the Book

The book came out of an art school exercise to complete ten drawings based on the letter P.  One of my  pictures was P for pyjamas and, as my lecturer liked it, I decided to explore the alphabet.   I became fasciated with clothes from around the world. It was impossible to cover all the countries, so in the end did a selection from every continent. I balanced native words with words that were familiar to the early child so as not to make the book too inaccessible.

Animals were chosen from the country to wear the clothes, rather than people, as they are far more interesting to depict with their many different shapes and sizes.  Also,  young children live in an imaginative world where they identify strongly with animals. As some of the clothes have a fascinating story I included an appendix to give a little background and, hopefully, encourage carers and teachers to explore further if so desired.

About the Author

Ffranses Ingram is a children’s storyteller/illustrator who works mainly in world tales.  A migrant from Wales, much of her work explores customs and traditions and adjustment of these within an Australian landscape.  For many years she worked as an early childhood storyteller in the Performing Arts Unit of NSW Ed Department, designing and performing literacy programmes in storytelling, and writing stories for the Education Dept Schools’ magazines and television.  Her first illustrated book “The Man in the Panama Hat and the Windy, Windy Day’ by Joachim Gevaert, was a notable book in the 2018 Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards.