The Adventures of Isabel [Paperback]

Ogden Nash (Author), James Marshall (Illustrator)

Book Description

The feisty Isabel defeats giants, wishes, and other threatening creatures with ease.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The heroine of this jaunty poem is no stranger to adversity: she quickly and calmly dispatches a variety of threatening figures, to the strains of Nash's vivacious comic cadences. ("She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up. / Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up.") As depicted by the ever-wacky Marshall, Isabel is rotund, bespectacled and absolutely unflappable, with a quiet grin of self-satisfaction. Her colorful wardrobe includes such incongruities as roller skates (lifted from an easily done-in witch) and Birkenstock sandals. The villains here are a hilariously horrible lot, from a toothy, neon-green witch to a hairy, one-eyed giant to a doctor whose every pore radiates untrustworthiness. Beneath its droll humor, this fine lark of a book contains a sound bit of advice for banishing terrors real and imagined: "Don't scream when the bugaboo says 'Boo!' / Just look it in the eye and say, 'Boo to you!' " Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2–5—In this newly illustrated edition of the well-known poem, a young girl courageously faces a series of dangers. When threatened by a bear, "Isabel, Isabel didn't worry,/Isabel didn't scream or scurry"—instead, she eats the bear. She also consumes a witch, decapitates a giant, and defeats an evil doctor. This book lacks two stanzas that appear in the version illustrated by James Marshall (Little, Brown, 1991; o.p.), which suggest that the foes that Isabel faces are all in her dreams. There is no such consolation here. Isabel is so unflappable that readers are not sure which is more menacing, the girl or the monsters. Taylor's bright watercolor illustrations are well suited to the text. The protagonist, dressed in polka-dot shorts, sometimes looks innocent, but at other times impish. Each encounter with a formidable creature takes place in a different setting, and Isabel pilots herself around in a small airplane or a power boat, always accompanied by her dog. The illustrations are full of color and action. It's interesting to hear Nash's voice on the accompanying CD, but his reading lacks drama. The poem is likely to delight children who are comfortable with books that have a certain level of gruesome humor, such as Keith Graves's Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance (Chronicle, 1999).—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co (Juv Pap) (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316598836
• ISBN-13: 978-0316598835
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,219,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Adventures of Isabel, September 11, 2000

By 

Virginia Smith (Joplin, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Adventures of Isabel (Paperback)

This is absolutely my favorite children's book. Every little girl should read and enjoy it. I recommend it for big girls too. It's the best!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Adventures of Isabel, September 12, 2002

By 

Lisa (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Adventures of Isabel (Library Binding)

My son is 4 and loves this book! We have read it every night this week, at his request. It is a wonderful book for learning new words (cavernous, scurry). It taps into my son's sense of the absurd. The theme of a child conquering big, scary things is very age appropriate. I highly recommend this book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Monster Problems? Perhaps Isabel Can Help - a review of "The Adventures of Isabel", September 25, 2006

By 

Pam Tee "Busy Mom" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Adventures of Isabel (Paperback)

"Isabel met an enormous bear,
Isabel, Isabel didn't care;
The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous,
The bear's big mouth was cruel and cavernous."

Thus begins Mr. Nash's poem about brave little Isabel. A girl who is not put off or frightened even when she faces fierce bears, wicked old witches, hideous giants, troublesome doctors, AND horrible dreams!

In each case, Isabel uses her imagination and conquers. For example:

The bear said, "Isabel, glad to meet you,
How do, Isabel, now I'll eat you!"

Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry,
Isabel didn't scream or scurry.
She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up,
Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up.

Four Stars. Great, not-scary artwork by James Marshall that is colorful and fun. As a read-aloud it is a little challenging, but practice draws out the proper cadence. My two kids like this book (they are boy and girl; 4 and 6); and I like that it suggests to them that they can solve their own problems, even scary ones.