Customer Reviews

I Wanna Iguana [Modern Gem]

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Karen Orloff and David Catrow have teamed up in this one to give us a very funny story of a little boy, Alex, who wants very, very much to have his own pet Iguana. The problem is...obviously, Mom! The entire book is consists of notes, or mini-letters, written between Alex and his mom. The little boy of course is pointing out the obvious advantages of having his own lizard in his room (in his eyes), and his mom counters each note with her own note pointing out the obvious disadvantages of having a reptile in the home..a reptile that can possibly grow to several feet long!. The unique exchange of letters is absolutely hilarious.

Each letter, both from Alex and from mom, is highlighted with some wonderful illustrations and pictures by David Catrow. They fit the text perfectly which makes this book quite easy to read to an individual child or to a group. Each letter allows the reader to open up discussion as to the arguments presented by both mom and Alex. It is fun to have the kids think of other reasons for both sides of the argument.

All in all, this is a fine little book and I do recommend you add it to your library. You certainly cannot go wrong with this one.

This is a marvellously ingenious book! Alex is just the right kind of precocious vocabulary-heavy kid to pull off the story, and his mom is a perfect foil for his scheme. My daughter loves this book, so naturally we read it a lot!

Our family LOVES I Wanna Iguana. Karen Kaufman Orloff's inventive story shows a wonderful, loving and humor-filled parent-child relationship in such a fun way. We read it over and over again, which makes us very happy.

Teachers can look to this story as a great example of persuasive writing. Young Alex is trying to pursuade his mother to let him adopt an iguana. In a series of hilarious notes between Alex and his mother, the terms and conditions of pet ownership are hammered out. There is a "money" page (the point where the whole class bursts out in raucous laughter.) David Catrow illustrations are wonderfully comic. One young listener observed, "That kid is really weird looking." The last page evoked a class wide, arm pumping "Yesssss..." along with Alex. Great fun!

I was at the book store shopping for a friend and instead ended up buying this book for myself. It is great. The engaging letters between the boy (alex) and his mother are so believable. Alex's pleading is all too true, and his quick-witted mothers responses are wonderful. I've read this book to my two nieces and several children at the library (where I work) and they've all loved it. And Catrow's illustrations are the perfect fit for Orloff's hilarious text.

I Wanna Iguana, by Karen Kaufman Orloff, is a charmer. As you peek at the notes the mother and son exchange, you feel like you become a member of this fond and humorous family. The illustrations by David Catrow are wonderful and fully capture the warmth and charm of the text. I loved it and can't wait to share it with children I know.

I read this book aloud to my third graders. They loved it, and I would recommend this book. The text is a great model for mini lessons on persuasive writing, voice, and/or point of view. My students wrote wonderful persuasive letters to their parents following the use of this book. This book would work well in first and second grade too.

Are you trying to teach persuasive text? Then this is the book for you! I have used this to teach persuasive text to 6th graders as well as 10th and 11th graders. The illustrations are priceless and the book is very entertaining. It does an excellent job of showing argument/counterargument. I highly recommend this book!!!
:-)

I Thought the book was going to be boring.But,then I read it. I started reading it.It had funny looking characters and funny looking pets.The book was about a boy wanting a iguana and writing to his mother how bad he wanted it.

This is one of my favorite books for my 2 and 3.5 year olds. It's also one of their favorites. It's very witty. At first I was not so pleased with the illustrations. This is not a 'cute' book. But after awhile I got over the oddness of the illustrations and they're just part of the personality of the story. This book has turned into a read along story with my 3.5 year old. I read the notes from the mommy and she has the notes from Alex memorized. And the suspense of whether or not Alex gets his iguana on the last page of the book has not died down over time. It's great fun and I think as my kids get older they will still have fun with this book.