Zenon: Girl of the Twenty-First Century

Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century #1

by Marilyn Sadler, Roger Bollen (Illustrator)

Zenon, who lives in outer space on a space station, is sent to Earth to visit her grandparents for the summer, a trip that, at first, she finds to be completely boring, but when her grandparents' dog has pups, Zenon's opinion of the planet makes a change for the better.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Science Fiction

48 pages, Board Book

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

With a degree in fine arts, Marilyn Sadler assumed she would be an illustrator. But when early in her career she was presented with an opportunity to write, she seized it and quickly discovered that she had found her true love. No sad, sappy stories for her, however. She likes to make herself laugh, and with that her characters usually end up looking pretty silly for one reason or another.

Her first children’s book featured a fastidious little English boy named Alistair Grittle and was originally created for the English publisher, Hamish Hamilton, as well as for Simon & Schuster in the United States. Having created a boy with such perfect behavior, she then turned her attention to a not so perfectly behaved little boy. His name was P.J. Funnybunny, and he has existed in a series of books for Random House, including the highly prestigious Dr. Seuss Cat In the Hat series.

Marilyn’s television credits include two PBS Reading Rainbow programs featuring Alistair, an Alistair program for the BBC, three ABC Weekend Specials featuring P.J. Funnybunny, and a show based on her children’s book, "Elizabeth and Larry", for Showtime’s Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories.

Between 1999 and 2004, The Disney Channel produced three Original Movies based on her book, "Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century". Each of Disney’s Zenon movies had exceptionally high ratings, with Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century and Zenon the Zequel among the highest rated shows in the history of The Disney Channel.

In 2004, Playhouse Disney began production on Marilyn and Roger Bollen's animated series, Handy Manny. Handy Manny premiered September 16, 2006, as the highest rated Playhouse Disney series premiere of all time. In 2009, Marilyn was nominated for an Emmy Award as Executive Producer of Handy Manny.

Reviews

[shybookstagramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you loved the Disney Channel original movie, Zenon: Girl of the 21st century, then you should check out this little picture book. It brings back a little bit of nostalgia.

[a dog who learned to read · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute little book. I love that the main thing going on is just Zenon enjoying dogs. So glad the Disney Channel movie version didn't go this way though, because that would be a horrible and strangely uncute movie, as is always mysteriously the case when it comes to dog media. They are NEVER cute in film. It's a conspiracy of some kind.

[Vitor Aurungo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Matt]

Cute 💫

[McKenzie Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle

I loved the Disney channel Zenon movies growing up and had no idea they were based on a children's book. I stumbled across this book at the library when searching the catalog to see if they had any of the movies (they don't... sigh).

This was a very cute book. The movie strays quite a bit, but the general story is there. Zenon starts out as quite a trouble-maker who is then sent to Earth for the summer. While there, she changes quite a bit and learns to appreciate different things. I was unsure how I felt about these changes (it would have been fine if she still liked her music), but I did like the ending.

The illustrations were also great. Wonderful detail and use of color. A splendid throwback that is still fun to read to this day.

[Hannah]

Way cute.

[Jose Montoya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zenon Girl Of The Twenty-First Century (1997)