R.W. Alley

Why is everyone so happy? Everyone except Ziggy.

It's TRACK-AND-FIELD DAY!

Ziggy hates track-
and-field day...

He isn’t good at running races or at jumping high or jumping far. He isn’t good at throwing balls. And, what’s this, eggs on spoons? Oh, no.
But, Ziggy is good at drawing. So, what to do but bring his markers and crayons to the field?
But, what will Ziggy draw on?
Mrs. Hanson has given everyone envelopes to stuff with a rainbow of colorful winning ribbons. Ziggy stuffs his with disappointing gray ribbons.
Ziggy decides to decorate his envelope.

I wish I’d had an envelope on track-and-field day. But, I did get to draw what I would have drawn if I hadn’t had to do the stupid arm hang (three seconds) and run around the edge of the playground (last place) where I knew wasps lurked in the poison ivy.

One of SEVEN JUST-RIGHT BOOKS FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL from Scholastic's INSTRUCTOR Magazine

Here are some reviews....

Poor Ziggy: Track-and-Field Day at school is a pox on his life; he isn't good at running or throwing balls or jumping. On the other hand, he likes to draw; if they only gave a blue ribbon for drawing pictures, he sighs. Ziggy's both right and wrong: He tanks at the sporting events, true, but he garners a whole fistful of ribbons from the other kids when they ask him to decorate the envelopes into which they're putting their ribbons. Mills draws a neat, unaffected line under being recognized for what you do best and the unlikely venues that can serve to display your particular talent. Alley's illustrations convey a genuine sense of Ziggy's frustrations on the field, but also the focus and bliss that drawing brings into his life.


K-Gr 2-Ziggy isn't athletic, but he loves to draw. On the day of the track-and-field meet, he is anxious. He reluctantly joins his classmates outdoors, where all the participants will receive ribbons for competing in the day's events-blue for first place, then red, or gold, or silver. While waiting for a race to begin, Ziggy colors the outside of the envelope in which he is to collect his ribbons; he is sure that they all will be silver. When a classmate spots his artwork, she asks him to draw on her envelope in exchange for one of her blue ribbons. Soon, other students are bartering theirs for his drawing services. The lively color cartoon illustrations succinctly express Ziggy's passion.-Linda Zeilstra Sawyer, Skokie Public Library, IL


When Ziggy's class goes out for track-and-field day at school, Ziggy knows that he is supposed to do his best. Unfortunately, he knows that his best is "worse than everyone else's best" and that he will probably end with an envelope full of "gray" (silver) ribbons instead of the blue, red, and gold ones that indicate various levels of winning. He's right, but Ziggy, the class artist, really shines at drawing brightly colored pictures, and the other kids happily barter their blue ribbons for his work. The author of the Gus and Grandpa series, Mills offers a simple but heartening story for kids who don't excel on the playing field but have other talents. From the roll of a pencil off a desk to the body language of schoolchildren who really want to be called on and those who really don't, Alley's paintings capture the school milieu with keenly observed details and a wry humor. A great choice to read aloud on field day, this upbeat picture book has broad appeal. -Carolyn Phelan


Ziggy is the only one in his class who isn't hyped up over track-and-field day. He knows and willingly complies with two-thirds of the drill: do your best (and his best is, quite frankly, lousy) and cheer for your classmates. The third part-have fun-is out of the question, so he brings his art supplies along to the field to doodle away the afternoon. The pictures he scribbles on his own envelope of last-place ribbons so impress the other kids that, before long, they are bribing him with blue ribbons to embellish their envelopes as well. With his alternatively earned awards and an orange Popsicle in hand, Ziggy has to admit that track-and-field day is kind of fun after all. Alley's exuberant tykes are coiled springs ready to pop, lips clenched with determination, both sneakers off the ground in a wide-stride run, yakking and yelling over each schoolmate's success or failure. Ziggy is pictured as a perfectly normal kid-neither pitifully scrawny nor huffily overweight, neither sulky nor self-pitying-just an average Joe who's not an athlete and certainly not interested in becoming one.