Click here to read REVIEWS of Zak. Continue below to read comments by readers.
Zak is a story of considerable interest and value to children and adults alike. It is a kind and human story delivered through the fascinating self-reflection and empathy of Zak, the 11 year old central character. It is highly entertaining, but also beautifully demonstrates the wisdom and ways of respect, acceptance, warmth and humility. I will read it again and again.
Hilton Davies, Professor of Child Health Psychology, Kings College, London
Give children the precious
gifts of freedom of mind and encouragement for their individuality, by
exposing them to Bridget Belgrave’s inspiring Zak.
Michael J. Gelb, author of "How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci"
Zak was really magical and amazing! Zak was a bit like me except I don't have magical powers. I wish I did. It was really interesting how he could talk to the animals and what they talked about.
Ziya, age 8
I like Zak. I could identify with him and accept him. He’s not too young for me, because of the humour.
Max, age 11
I think Zak was the best book I have ever read even better than Harry Potter. I thought some bits were very funny like his first day at school.
Marion, age 9
Zak is an introduction to a whole new way of life, of cultivating awareness and perceptions and tapping in to the powerful, creative inner self. It’s listening to silence with pleasure, and feeling empathy non-verbally. It encourages children to feel things for themselves and to be aware of their own inner potentials, regardless of the assumptions and put-downs of others. It is a wholly healing book.
Margaret Harrison, author of ‘Angels on Roller Skates’
Zak is the only novel that my son Ben, age 9, has wanted to read six times.
Anne Turner
I was delighted with Zak. He makes magic very real and ordinary. He gives it being and makes it come alive. He brings hope to find that magic in my own life.
Fr. Chris Rajendrum
Zak conveys simply yet profoundly the inter-dependance of the plant, animal, human and spiritual worlds.
Allegra Wint
As a Buddhist, I related to Zak very well. The 'zing' episode seemed very much like meditation and put me in mind of the woods around a few meditation centres I have been to. It was also a delight to read a book that didn't have a violent climax. My 8 year old son was fascinated by it, wondering what would happen next and often wouldn't let me finish of an evening, demanding another chapter.
Daren De Witt
When I was a boy I was like Zak in many ways but I learnt to ‘play the game’. It has only been in recent years that I got tired of the game and started trusting myself again.
Henry, who describes himself as ‘a business man in seach of his soul’.
This book will be welcomed by ecologists. It opens the reader’s eyes to the importance of wildlife and of nature’s subtle processes that can so easily be damaged - at a cost we can hardly dare to think about.
Michael Simmonds
I have just finished reading Zak. It is wonderful. He is wonderful. It is easy and fun to read and I felt as if I were inside Zak’s mind a lot of the time. The message in this book really needs to be heard by millions of people. It makes me want to be Zak too!
Jane Duncan, author of ‘Choose Your Thoughts, Change Your Life’
I'd like to thank you for your book 'Zak', as I and my almost 6-year-old daughter read it excitedly this summer. I was really impressed how my Tess liked it as it was the first book she was eager for me to read her in English (I tried English classics a few times, but it didn't work even though she is fluent in English, although our native language is Russian). And now when I walk in the forest I recall its zing and do my best to respect it. So thank you for this magic!
Olga Belogrivtseva