Zip Zap Wickety Wack by Matthew Diffee

Zip Zap Wickety Wack

A Story About Sharing

Matthew Diffee

Candlewick Press · Print & ebook · September 30, 2025

New Yorker cartoonist Matthew Diffee makes his children’s book debut with this laugh-out-loud twist on the classic animal sound book.

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Who it’s for
A familiar animal-sound book turns into a playful tangle of originality, ownership, and sharing.
Themes
Sharing, Compromise
Genres
Farm Animal Stories, Funny Stories, Alien Contact

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About this book

New Yorker cartoonist Matthew Diffee makes his children’s book debut with this laugh-out-loud twist on the classic animal sound book. One of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Books of the Year! A New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year The cow says “moo.” The horse says “neigh.” Everyone can agree on these. But when the sheep says “baa,” the goat cuts in. The goat also says “baa.” Now what? No one wants to share their sound!

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The sheep has an idea—he’ll just say something no one’s ever said before: “zip zap wickety wack bing bang walla balla flip flap yackety yack.” But an otherworldly visitor shows up to lay claim to this sound, too—and the alien doesn't want to share his identity either. When the alien proposes a radical new way forward, the sheep and the goat find a compromise—and it may sound familiar to adult readers . . . New Yorker cartoonist Matthew Diffee’s hilarious wit will be an immediate hit with young readers in his first picture book. Sure to inspire boisterous read-alouds and threaded with a sneaky message about sharing, Zip Zap Wickety Wack will inspire new nonsense and new values in homes, classrooms, and farmyards around the world. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Sound Competition

A familiar animal-sound book turns into a playful tangle of originality, ownership, and sharing.

Come here for

  • Nonsense sounds with a nicely unruly rhythm
  • A gentle clash over who gets to say what

Expect

  • A read-aloud built for boisterous sound-making
  • A sneaky sharing message beneath the silliness

Where it sits

Alien Contact69%
Funny Stories54%
Farm Animal Stories42%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Farm Animal Stories
  • Funny Stories
  • Alien Contact
Authors
Matthew Diffee
Publisher
Candlewick Press
Published
September 30, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Sharing · Compromise
Reading lane
Farm Animal Stories