Izzy Impala's Imaginary Illnesses

September 1, 2010

PreS-Gr 1-Each alliterative story focuses on a single phoneme or letter sound. Izzy Impala seeks attention from her grandpa by feigning illness, such as infuriating influenza or an impossible injury. He prescribes ice cream as the treatment and takes her for a cone. Jeremy Jackrabbit wins a jump-rope contest and the prize is a journey to Japan. Each book ends with a few facts about the animals and a game. Printable practice sheets are available on the publisher's website. Alpha Betty's animal students appear on white backgrounds with little detail; they exhibit great facial expressions and body language. The texts are long for beginning readers, and the vocabulary is quite mature, which is necessary to include all the examples of the letter sounds. Children will enjoy hearing these stories read aloud.-Sharon R. Pearce, Longfellow Elementary School, Oak Park, IL

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2010
Preschool-G Starring individual students from a single classroom, each book in the Animal Antics A to Z series includes words beginning with the initial letter of the main characters name. Here, its Izzy Impala, who repeatedly pretends to be sick in order to visit her grandfather, a doctor. Doc prescribes ice cream to cure each of Izzys maladies and eventually sets up a weekly visit so that they can skip the imaginary illnesses, impressive infections, and impossible injuries. Cheerful mixed-media artwork illustrates this light, appealing story. Also available now is Jeremy Jackrabbits Jumping Journey.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)