Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Isabel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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!

"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.

I'm fourteen and I still remember this book so clearly. Its a classic. Everyone should own this book.

My 18 year old daughter and I were just talking about her favorite children's books today and this one came up. My husband was the one who remembered it because it was as much fun for us as it was for her. Written in verse, it's about a little girl who is fearless in the face of the most frightening adversaries (e.g., nightmares, doctors, etc.). It seems some reviewers are unfamiliar with Ogden Nash's work ("God in His wisdom made the fly. And then forgot to tell us why.") and this is sad. Back when Americans cared a bit about culture, he was well known for his "droll verse and unconventional rhymes" but also wrote charming short stories. We had the original book with the more comic (not as cutesy) looking characters and liked it just fine. And, just wondering, what is the point of a CD? I'm sure your kids would rather you held them close and read to them.

I came across this one browsing Amazon and went looking on eBay and found it for $1.99. I thought I was getting the Bridget Starr Taylor illustrated one, but James Marshall's artwork in this one is cute, though I may upgrade to the Taylor version to get the CD at some point. I liked the excerpts I had read, and the main character shares a name with one of my twins' (though my daughter's name is spelled differently), that's why I went for it. It arrived yesterday (the twins are now 3 1/4 years old) and the girls made me read it four times in a row, they both absolutely loved it! The rhyming is great, the cadence of the text is fabulous, and I know some other reviewers disagree on this a little with me, but one has to make allowances for it being poetry rather than just children's book text, and for the subtle differences in language/grammar even a few decades make, and besides, it is good to expose children to it! Highly recommended book!

I really liked this book. The way that Isabel dispatches her foes is so creative and funny. I loved the new words that children can learn from reading this book. She is brave and doesn't let anything or anyone scare her. I also enjoyed the illustrations, so colorful and bright. I would certainly recommend this book to children as well as some women. This book shows perservence and creativty. I am going to enjoy reading this to some of the children in my life just to see the expression on their faces and teach them new words.

We got this book because we thought it was WRITTEN by James Marshall. Oops. Was told it was a good "positive book for girls" etc. kind of stuff. Yeah. Its okay. The rhymes just aren't very in-sync. Sorry, but its just okay. Some of the phraseology is not easy for younger children to understand. Since this book apparently is supposed to flow, by rhyme, taking time to explain (why Isabel gave the doctor a cure by giving him his own shot in the butt, for example) each new rhyme on each new page of Isabel's weird adventures makes it unappealing. I haven't been asked to reread this book since I bought it. PS. James Marshall does a great job illustrating, though! :)