Zigby
Encyclopedia
Zigby the zebra
is an anthropomorphic children's fictional character created by Scottish-born English author Brian Paterson
. Zigby appears in a series of picture book
s and board book
s as well as in a 3D animated television series.
Zigby lives in a tree house in Mudwater Creek, on a lush tropical island. In a typical book or episode, the enthusiastic zebra "trots into trouble" through his slightly eccentric behaviour. He is followed by his friends McMeer the cheeky and stupid meerkat
and Bertie Bird the anxious guinea fowl.
:
Four board books (Go-Kart, The Picnic, The Birthday Party, Toy Box) appeared in 2004 with the same publisher. As of early 2005, 350,000 copies had been sold in 15 countries.
and Canadian Treehouse TV
. It was also acquired by German ZDF
, BBC
-produced CBeebies
and by France 5
. It was made by Yoram Gross' Flying Bark Studios.
Zebra
Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
is an anthropomorphic children's fictional character created by Scottish-born English author Brian Paterson
Brian Paterson
Brian Paterson is an illustrator, best known for his work with Foxwood Tales and later Zigby.-Early life:Brian Paterson was born in Ayrshire in 1949. At the age of 12 his family moved to Somerset. He met a local girl, Cynthia, and they married in 1973...
. Zigby appears in a series of picture book
Picture book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. The images in picture books use a range of media such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and pencil.Two of the earliest books with something like the format picture books still retain now...
s and board book
Board book
A board book is a type of book printed on thick paperboard. The paperboard is printed and used for both the cover and the interior pages. Each page panel is a minimum of two plies of paperboard thickness. Unlike a typical paper book that is bound with saddle stitching or perfect binding, a...
s as well as in a 3D animated television series.
Zigby lives in a tree house in Mudwater Creek, on a lush tropical island. In a typical book or episode, the enthusiastic zebra "trots into trouble" through his slightly eccentric behaviour. He is followed by his friends McMeer the cheeky and stupid meerkat
Meerkat
The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan"...
and Bertie Bird the anxious guinea fowl.
Books
The following picture books for ages approximately 2–5 years were published by HarperCollinsHarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
:
- Zigby Camps Out (2002)
- Zigby Hunts for Treasure (2002)
- Zigby and the Ant Invaders (2003)
- Zigby Dives In (2003)
- Zigby and the Monster (2005)
Four board books (Go-Kart, The Picnic, The Birthday Party, Toy Box) appeared in 2004 with the same publisher. As of early 2005, 350,000 copies had been sold in 15 countries.
Television series
The development of an animated series based on the character was announced in 2005. 52 3D animated episodes of 11 minutes each were coproduced by companies in Australia, Singapore and Canada. The series specifically targets 4 to 5 year olds with a wider target audience of 3 to 6 year olds. The series has been shown on Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
and Canadian Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel with programming targeted towards preschoolers that was launched on October 17, 1997. Its name comes from YTV's old children's programming block, The Treehouse...
. It was also acquired by German ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
-produced CBeebies
CBeebies
CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...
and by France 5
France 5
France 5 is a public television network in France, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring educational programming, the channel's motto is la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir...
. It was made by Yoram Gross' Flying Bark Studios.