©Tony DiTerlizzi
Tony DiTerlizzi’s first children’s book, Jimmy Zangwow’s Out-of-this-World Moon Pie Adventure (2000), was an instant hit. Painted in a Maxfield Parrish-inspired palette of vivid blue and orange, Jimmy Zangwow is set in an undetermined time, circa the mid-1930s. The book opens with a discussion between mother and son in a kitchen floored with black and white patterned linoleum tiles. On the kitchen counter sits a case of empty milk bottles while an aluminum biplane toy rests on the ground. We are firmly ensconced in the period as Jimmy innocently exclaims phrases like, “Aww, nuts!,” “Gadzooks!,” and “Holy macaroni!”
It is almost dinnertime when the story begins, but Jimmy is in desperate need of a Moon Pie to sate his hunger. Denied the dessert by his mother who is busy preparing dinner, he ventures outdoors where he has constructed a flying jalopy from spare wooden crates. He uses this makeshift spaceship to travel afar in search of a Moon Pie. On his adventure through outer space, Jimmy first encounters Mr. Moon. Jimmy soars by Mr. Moon in his jalopy, inquiring about Moon Pies, and Mr. Moon obliges by giving the boy an entire year’s supply — 1,000 in total. Naturally, Jimmy requires some milk to go with his treat, for which Mr. Moon advises him to head to the Milky Way.
A powerful tremor sends Jimmy tumbling down to Mars where he meets 999 Mars Men and one Grimble Grinder monster, whose tummy grumbling caused Jimmy’s descent to the Red Planet. After feeding the hungry monster one Moon Pie, Jimmy announces his desire to return home. In a reference to The Wizard of Oz, the 999 Mars Men make a hot-air balloon out of Moon Pie Wrappers that the Grimble Grinder happily agrees to fuel with gas from a burp, though he requires the remaining 999 Moon Pies to obtain the effect. Upon achieving flight, Jimmy promises his new friends, “I’ll come back again soon!”
