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Izzy Impala's Imaginary Illnesses

by Barbara Derubertis
32p. 978-1-57565-320-4.
COPY ISBN
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 Media Source Inc.
Though a couple of the story lines are not terrible, all of these books are crammed with words that include the featured letter, making for a distracting and unsatisfying reading experience. Alley's lighthearted illustrations are more limber than the texts. Unnecessary last-page features include animal facts and phonemic awareness activities. There are five other spring 2010 books in this series. Review covers these Animal Antics A to Z titles: Alexander Anteater's Amazing Act, Corky Cub's Crazy Caps, Eddie Elephant's Exciting Egg-Sitting, Gertie Gorilla's Glorious Gift, and Izzy Impala's Imaginary Illnesses.

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