The Night Iguana Left Home [Hardcover]

DK Publishing (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

Everyone -- even a lizard -- needs a vacation now and then.... Even though her "almost sister" Alison mists the room daily with salt spray and sees to it that Iguana has a closet with a heating pad, a free library card, and her own e-mail address, the pet is restive (and peeling). It's winter in Schenectady, and Iguana wants sun -- just what's promised by a travel poster for Key West, Florida. Emboldened, she writes a good-bye to Alison, signing her name "Iguana," and, despite her innate fear of dogs, boards a Greyhound bus headed south, where she has a blast. When her funds dwindle, Iguana takes a dishwashing job, only to learn to her horror that the restaurant's Friday night special is iguana stew and the chef's run out of his principal ingredient. Meanwhile, Alison pines in the snow belt, hardly guessing at the dramatic turn her pet's life has taken. The story is wittily wild (but the iguana facts -- she separates from her tail while fleeing the restaurant's dog -- are all sound science), the pictures burst with our heroine's grand style and pluck, and the ending -- courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service -- is happy for all.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Though Iguana is happy living in the bedroom of her good friend Alison Frogley, she needs something more, and so leaves Schenectady for the sand and surf of Key West. It's an idyllic life, until the money runs out and Iguana discovers, almost too late, that the eatery where she lands a dishwashing job specializes in "Gallina de Palo" --iguana stew. In Goembel's illustrations, done with a bold, hilariously enhanced realism, Iguana (only slightly less than human size) basks in scaly resplendence beneath pink shades and stylish neckwear, her great tail sweeping out behind her in strong, graceful curves. After a narrow escape, Iguana settles down on another Key, supporting herself as a stamp licker for the local post office, keeping in touch with Alison via e-mail, and, twice a year, mailing herself to Schenectady for tete-a-tetes over "the best anchovy pizza in the world." Match this resilient reptile to the feckless title characters of Tony Johnston's Iguana Brothers (1995), illustrated by Mark Teague, for a droll study in contrasting personalities. John Peters

From Kirkus Reviews

It's not that Iguana is angry or anything. After all, she has her own e-mail address and all the anchovy pizza she wants; she loves her human pal, Alison, who treats her as a best friend should. Iguana pines for the sun and surf and as many miles as she can get between herself and Schenectady, New York, where the winters know no mercy. So she grabs a bus to Key West, where she lives the good life until her allowance runs out. Then she has to wash dishes in a restaurant, and on the night the restaurant serves a special iguana, Iguana lights out for a stamp-licking job at the post office, then tucks herself into a parcel addressed to Schenectady. The warm south is in her blood (this comes as no surprise, given Goembel's wry, alluring scenes of the place) and she heads back to Big Pine Key, commuting back to Alison for anchovy pizza when it beckons. McDonald's story is wonderfully alive, with the iguana a bit of a cool cat, and the Keys exotic but available. It is full of love, independence, and natural law, and the slice of biogeography can't hurt. (Picture book. 5-9) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN; 1st edition (September 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789425815
• ISBN-13: 978-0789425812
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,323,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

10 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

10. The first book I ever wrote was about a hermit crab, inspired by a pet I once owned.

9. My favorite color is purple.

8. I love to read mysteries. When I was Judy's age, I read all 56 classic Nancy Drew books . . . in order! Jeepers!

7. I used to collect scabs so I could examine them under the microscope that I got for my 8th birthday.

6. My four sisters and I often made up our own language, which included the words "Hoidi Boidi", "oogey", "retzel crummypuss" and "poony-poony".

5. My favorite TV show is JEOPARDY!

4. To research my Sisters Club book, THE RULE OF THREE, I toured San Francisco in search of the ultimate cupcake. The winner: Sleepless in San Francisco. Think chocolate + coffee.

3. When I was a kid, I fell down a hill from chasing the ice-cream truck and had to get stitches.

2. When I was a librarian, I used to tell stories in sign language. That's how I got the expression "same-same" for Judy.

1. I share a birthday (February 28) with a famous princess, race car driver and gangster, a Rolling Stone, a French tightrope walker, and a winning racehorse named Smarty Jones.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars everykid lives in her skin, April 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Night Iguana Left Home (Hardcover)

Iguana has a wonderful home and (human)sister but she feels a powerful need to go South. In Florida she has adventures both scary and cool. I thought this was a sharp allegory about growing up and becoming independent. Vivid illustrations are true to the modern tone, and the lesson is really warm-hearted. A good choice for a kid with an independent streak, or one whose independence you'd like to foster.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Megan McDonald's "Night Iguana Left Home" is wonderful !, June 13, 2000

By 

Marilyn Burkman - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Night Iguana Left Home (Hardcover)

My grandaughter and I read a lot and Megan McDonald is one of our favorites. "Iguana" is very contemporary and yet charming as are other books by this author. My 4 year old asks for them to be read over and over. Other books By Megan McDonald that we have enjoyed are "Is this a House for Hermit Crab" and "Insects are my Life". Both have a wonderful rhythm to the text. I know that you will enjoy this author.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A silly tale about an Iguana's search for something better., January 4, 2002

By 

S. A. Farley "sally1590" (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Night Iguana Left Home (Hardcover)

Although the illustrations are very nicely done, very amusing, the story itself could use some help.

A pet iguana's health suffers as she lacks something in her life - outdoors, sunshine...adventure, perhaps. I found it a bit sad that the iguana was able to leave her friend/owner so easily to go off on an adventure on her own.

The direction this story should have gone was for the owner to figure out that the iguana needed a change of scenery. Then the story could have shown how the owner of the iguana went about getting her pet to a happier place, if even just for a vacation.