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Izzy Gizmo
Meet Izzy Gizmo – a fabulously feisty new character from Pip Jones ( Squishy McFluff ; Daddy's Sandwich ) brought brilliantly to life with exuberant and detailed illustrations from the best-selling illustrator of The Detective Dog , Sara Ogilvie . Izzy Gizmo, a girl who LOVED to invent , carried her tool bag wherever she went in case she discovered a thing to be mended, or a gadget to tweak to make to make it more splendid. Izabelle Gizmo just loves to invent, but her inventions never seem to work the way she wants them to. And that makes her really CROSS! When she finds a crow with a broken wing she just has to help. But will she be able to put her frustrations to one side and help her new friend to fly again? Shortlisted for the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Prize 2017 , this empowering book is perfect for fans of Rosie Revere, Engineer , Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World and Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls . ‘If you’re looking for a new book with a determined, strong female role model then this is for you’ Being a Mummy blog ‘This was such a fun book. We need more books with girl inventors!’ Twirling Book Princess blog ‘This exuberantly riotous story… blends the fun of rhyme with the touching friendship between a charismatic crow and a never-say-die young inventor’ Lancashire Evening Post ‘A lovely story of ingenuity and determination’ Parents in Touch ‘I doubt many will fail to fall for Izzy and her mechanical mind. Pip Jones’ rhyming narrative is a cracker to read aloud and Sara Ogilvie’s imagination must be almost as fertile as young Izzy’s… A real riot.’ Red Reading Hub blog ‘Jones’s loping, engaging rhymes and Ogilvie’s vivacious images evoke both inspiration and frustration’ The Guardian
32 pages, Paperback
First published August 10, 2017
8 people are currently reading
771 people want to read
About the author
Pip Jones
76 books38 followersPip was born in Cheltenham, UK, where she spent her childhood gobbling up books and dreaming about being an author herself. At the age of 19, she began a career in journalism, writing and editing for local and national newspapers and magazines. After the births of her daughters, Pip began writing for parenting magazines and websites. In 2012, she won the inaugural Greenhouse Funny Prize, with a series of stories about Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat, who Pip had based on her elder daughter's 'real' imaginary kitten. The first book in the series was published by Faber Children's in 2014. Pip's first picture book, Daddy's Sandwich, was published by Faber Children's in May 2015 and was shortlisted in the Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards Picture Book category in the same year. Pip continues to write the Squishy McFluff series, and a raft of new titles are planned in the coming three years, including three further picture books, and a new young reader series. Watch this space!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
October 24, 2017
⭐️ - Girl inventor.
⭐️ - Inventions with cool names like Tea-Mendous and Swirly-Spagsonic that look like something Doc Brown would make. Remember that wonderful contraption he made to feed Einstein?
⭐️ - Lovely Grandpa who is so encouraging and adorable, and who doesn't believe in giving up.
⭐️ - Crow with heaps of character who helps teach our girl inventor perseverance, empathy and teamwork.
⭐️ - Beautiful story told in rhymes and quirky, fun illustrations that make you smile.
⭐️ - Inventions with cool names like Tea-Mendous and Swirly-Spagsonic that look like something Doc Brown would make. Remember that wonderful contraption he made to feed Einstein?
⭐️ - Lovely Grandpa who is so encouraging and adorable, and who doesn't believe in giving up.
⭐️ - Crow with heaps of character who helps teach our girl inventor perseverance, empathy and teamwork.
⭐️ - Beautiful story told in rhymes and quirky, fun illustrations that make you smile.
February 11, 2019
Izzy Gizmo is a wonderful text for students who struggle with the current demand of 21st century skills like: flexibility, growth mindset, perseverance, resilience and creativity. Students empathize and connect with Izzy when she gets frustrated because she can’t solve a problem on the first (or second, or third) try. The true power of the book is the underlying theme of perseverance and digging your heels in when the problem is tough.
This book lends itself to a vast variety of skills. The fun, whimsical rhyming and made up inventions immediately remind me of Dr. Seuss books and the author’s message of perseverance lends itself to a discussion I would have with my students. However, the one of the best parts of the book is the robust vocabulary that Pip Jones intertwines throughout the pages. Students are exposed to words like: splendid, glitch, cross (as an adjective), fumed (as a feeling), dismantled, entranced, walloped, furious and tinkered. I would use the Word Walk strategy to expose and teach my students the specific words cross and wallop.
After completing the Word Walk strategy with my students, I would ensure that students could apply the words. I would do this by asking my students to choose one of our new words and ask them to create a picture of what the word means by using whatever mediums available in the classroom (markers, crayons, paint, Play Doh). After they are finished creating, they would write a sentence or a short story, depending on the students’ level, using the vocabulary word. These student created examples can then be hung or added to our Spicy Word Wall or displayed in a Word Museum in our classroom.
This book lends itself to a vast variety of skills. The fun, whimsical rhyming and made up inventions immediately remind me of Dr. Seuss books and the author’s message of perseverance lends itself to a discussion I would have with my students. However, the one of the best parts of the book is the robust vocabulary that Pip Jones intertwines throughout the pages. Students are exposed to words like: splendid, glitch, cross (as an adjective), fumed (as a feeling), dismantled, entranced, walloped, furious and tinkered. I would use the Word Walk strategy to expose and teach my students the specific words cross and wallop.
After completing the Word Walk strategy with my students, I would ensure that students could apply the words. I would do this by asking my students to choose one of our new words and ask them to create a picture of what the word means by using whatever mediums available in the classroom (markers, crayons, paint, Play Doh). After they are finished creating, they would write a sentence or a short story, depending on the students’ level, using the vocabulary word. These student created examples can then be hung or added to our Spicy Word Wall or displayed in a Word Museum in our classroom.
March 22, 2018
Izzy is a young inventor whose inventions don't always work. When they break, chaos and messes often occur. She decides that she has had enough and puts her toolbag away. When she finds a crow that has hurt itself after falling, the vet tells her it will never fly again. She tries to teach the crow how to live and have fun without flying, but he is extremely unhappy. Along comes grandpa. He is kind and encourages her to come up with something to help the crow fly. Even though her inventions don't work, grandpa and the crow keep encouraging her to try again. She finally comes up with the perfect wings for her friend.
This book is about empowering girls to participate in inventions and technology as well as perseverance and not giving up. It is also great to see her parental guide encouraging her and not getting upset when she makes a mess. Throughout the story, Izzy "borrows" items from others for her inventions and at the end of the story, her grandfather makes her fix what she broke when taking pieces of items. This is great for developing the concept of responsibility for your actions. This story is told in verse, and is great for building rhyming skills and making predictions with young children. It has a nice cadence and is fun to read. The illustrations are detailed, and the inventions shown are wonderful and could initiate discussions while looking at them. This is a great book for family, school, classroom and public libraries. A good book for late primary and early junior students. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
This book is about empowering girls to participate in inventions and technology as well as perseverance and not giving up. It is also great to see her parental guide encouraging her and not getting upset when she makes a mess. Throughout the story, Izzy "borrows" items from others for her inventions and at the end of the story, her grandfather makes her fix what she broke when taking pieces of items. This is great for developing the concept of responsibility for your actions. This story is told in verse, and is great for building rhyming skills and making predictions with young children. It has a nice cadence and is fun to read. The illustrations are detailed, and the inventions shown are wonderful and could initiate discussions while looking at them. This is a great book for family, school, classroom and public libraries. A good book for late primary and early junior students. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
August 6, 2020
My library system is having online diversity trainings for preschool story times.
This was not assigned reading, I just happened upon it when I was returning quarantined items.
Read it this morning before one of our trainings. What a HOOT! :-)
Izzy is an inventor, always on the look out for new fangled things to create. Perchance, a crow falls from the sky and breaks a wing ---- the vet is not sure he can fix it, however, he suggests that Izzy take it home and see what she can do. With major encouragement from an older family member, and the CROW, himself, Izzy tries, tries and tries again! Unbeknownst to unsuspecting folks, she manages to dismantle some very interesting items along the way.
This was not assigned reading, I just happened upon it when I was returning quarantined items.
Read it this morning before one of our trainings. What a HOOT! :-)
Izzy is an inventor, always on the look out for new fangled things to create. Perchance, a crow falls from the sky and breaks a wing ---- the vet is not sure he can fix it, however, he suggests that Izzy take it home and see what she can do. With major encouragement from an older family member, and the CROW, himself, Izzy tries, tries and tries again! Unbeknownst to unsuspecting folks, she manages to dismantle some very interesting items along the way.
September 26, 2018
Izzy is living my dream with her pet crow.
July 25, 2022
4,5 sterren - Nederlandse hardcover
Sara Snufje was altijd op zoek naar zaken
die ze mooier of beter of specialer kon maken. Haar gereedschapskist sjouwde ze overal mee,want ze kreeg elke dag wel een nieuw idee. Sara is dol op uitvinden, alleen mislukken haar maaksels altijd. En Sara heeft nogal een kort lontje, dus dan is het huis te klein.
Ze zou uitvinder worden: dat had ze altijd geloofd. Maar toen hoorde ze opeens een BONS! boven haar hoofd.
Er tuimelde een kraai vlak bij waar Sara stond, recht uit de lucht en KABOEM op de grond.
De dierenarts laat er geen twijfel over bestaan: Kraai zal nooit meer vliegen. Maar dan heeft hij buiten Sara gerekend...
Ze gaat aan de slag om Kraai nieuwe vleugels te geven. En dat is nog niet zo makkelijk. Keer op keer gaat het mis. Zal Sara het vol kunnen houden en zal Kraai ooit weer met zijn vrienden het luchtruim veroveren?
Het gaat over een meisje dat niet echt keisjesdingen doet en de wereld wil verbeteren door uit te vinden. Zelf voor gevederde vriendjes wil ze een oplossing bieden. Mijn kleindochter vindt dit meisje geweldig!
Sara Snufje was altijd op zoek naar zaken
die ze mooier of beter of specialer kon maken. Haar gereedschapskist sjouwde ze overal mee,want ze kreeg elke dag wel een nieuw idee. Sara is dol op uitvinden, alleen mislukken haar maaksels altijd. En Sara heeft nogal een kort lontje, dus dan is het huis te klein.
Ze zou uitvinder worden: dat had ze altijd geloofd. Maar toen hoorde ze opeens een BONS! boven haar hoofd.
Er tuimelde een kraai vlak bij waar Sara stond, recht uit de lucht en KABOEM op de grond.
De dierenarts laat er geen twijfel over bestaan: Kraai zal nooit meer vliegen. Maar dan heeft hij buiten Sara gerekend...
Ze gaat aan de slag om Kraai nieuwe vleugels te geven. En dat is nog niet zo makkelijk. Keer op keer gaat het mis. Zal Sara het vol kunnen houden en zal Kraai ooit weer met zijn vrienden het luchtruim veroveren?
Het gaat over een meisje dat niet echt keisjesdingen doet en de wereld wil verbeteren door uit te vinden. Zelf voor gevederde vriendjes wil ze een oplossing bieden. Mijn kleindochter vindt dit meisje geweldig!
February 17, 2022
This is a fun, bright picture book in the vein of Andrea Beaty's work. The focus on inventing, and a female, Black protagonist is lovely, but what I really liked is that what finally helps her to succeed is not giving up when the first try fails. It also was nice that the reason she doesn't give up is because of encouragement, yes, but mostly because this invention was not just for her - it was for her hurt crow.
October 22, 2017
Izzy is a young inventor and creates messes (and sometimes chaos) with her inventions. One day a bird falls from the sky with injured wings, and Izzy struggles to invent something that will help the bird to fly again. She wants to give up, but her father encourages her to continue trying new things until she comes up with the perfect plan.
It's great seeing girls empowered and tackling tech topics in children's literature, especially girls of color. I love the relationship Izzy has with her father, and how he won't let her give up when the problem is not easy to solve.
This story is told in verse, and is great for building rhyming skills and making predictions with young children. The illustrations are detailed, and allow for deeper conversation about the text. I appreciate that at the end, Izzy had to make amends for the messes she created. My first grade students enjoyed this book as a read-aloud.
It's great seeing girls empowered and tackling tech topics in children's literature, especially girls of color. I love the relationship Izzy has with her father, and how he won't let her give up when the problem is not easy to solve.
This story is told in verse, and is great for building rhyming skills and making predictions with young children. The illustrations are detailed, and allow for deeper conversation about the text. I appreciate that at the end, Izzy had to make amends for the messes she created. My first grade students enjoyed this book as a read-aloud.
March 20, 2018
This is a really a story of not giving up. Oh, yes, it is also about a little girl that likes to invent things, but keeps failing at her inventions, and so she abandons them for the next thing.
Until she finds a wounded crow, and she tries to invent new wings for him. She keeps wanting to give up, the the crow and her dad encourage her to try again, until, she ha the crow flying again.
Fun, bright pictures. I love that the girl has problems not because she is a girl, but because what she is doing is hard.
I'm hoping this will be a hit around little girls that like to invent things. :)
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
Until she finds a wounded crow, and she tries to invent new wings for him. She keeps wanting to give up, the the crow and her dad encourage her to try again, until, she ha the crow flying again.
Fun, bright pictures. I love that the girl has problems not because she is a girl, but because what she is doing is hard.
I'm hoping this will be a hit around little girls that like to invent things. :)
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
September 17, 2020
Loved this book! Thought was really fun with all the rhyming, illustrations were great and I enjoyed how the words were varied and all over the place. The message of a girl being able to do anything just trying hard and persevering was really important. Also not being a white boy who was inventing things was great. Good to read out loud but also to inspire girls and boys that they can try anything.
August 29, 2018
Izzy Gizmo loves to invent and create, but she often fails. When she comes across a bird with a broken wing she is inspired to try helping, but fails over and over again. Sticking with it finally leads to success. Great vocabulary throughout, for the tools and mechanical things she employs. There are other books out there with similar messages, compare if looking for the best, but this is a solid read with a solid message.
grades 1-3
grades 1-3
July 18, 2024
I don’t typically include books I read to my students on my list, but this summer we’ve read some really “note worthy” books. Love seeing a black girl in her creative bag and being celebrated for it.
Buy this book for a kid in your life.
Buy this book for a kid in your life.
February 22, 2018
I would have loved to love this book. I've read this book in the Dutch translation and I'm sorry to say that the translation ruined an otherwise perfectly nice book. The metre is at times so awful it blocks the reading flow. What a shame!
October 29, 2018
Similar to Rosie Revere, Engineer etc. Very cute rhymes. I love that she has to work through frustration and failure.
July 15, 2019
Sparking imagination and telling kids to not give up when frustrated and it doesn't work the first time 👍🏻
October 15, 2020
Love this one and want to add it to our home library. Black girl inventor who lives with grandpa. Love the diversity and the theme of persistence in the face of setbacks and failures.
December 21, 2022
This is a book for elementary school kids. I really liked it, the protagonist is a tinkerer (might be good if the kid is into iron man). The moral of the story is about preseverance.
August 7, 2018
Best STEM inventor picture book I've read in a really long time.
August 2, 2018
This was 2 of 6 books my son knocked off the shelf at the library (lol so I got all of them).
So cute Izzy was a creative girl with a good heart trying to fix what's broken and make her life better with izzy giizmo's (her gadgets). With the assurance for her grandpa and the bird she didn't give up I want my kids to learn from this book mistakes don't make you who you are it's your determination.
So cute Izzy was a creative girl with a good heart trying to fix what's broken and make her life better with izzy giizmo's (her gadgets). With the assurance for her grandpa and the bird she didn't give up I want my kids to learn from this book mistakes don't make you who you are it's your determination.
July 4, 2021
Get this for your young ones :-). Top notch! Brilliantly illustrated.
December 14, 2017
Izzy Gizmo loves to tinker but she tends to give up when things don't work out the way she planned. One day she meets a broken bird that gives her the motivation to try until she succeeds. A great story with rhyming language, a colorful feisty heroine, and a lesson in persisting even when things are hard.
August 17, 2018
If you need a rhymer, this is it! Izzy Gizmo - is a creative girl who takes things apart and a problem is presented. I just read with second graders today and they loved it! I checked it out of the library but if I met the author, I would buy it from them.
July 12, 2018
This book is perfect at showing what it looks like to try, try again! I love seeing a little girl of color being the focus of a book on inventing, science and engineering.
May 14, 2018
A good message for all of us - try again and again!
April 27, 2018
A great read-alike for "Rosie Revere, Engineer" and "Ada Twist, Scientist," though I didn't enjoy it quite as much as its predecessors. Still, it was really fun and sweet.
February 4, 2018
Izzy Gizmo is a girl inventor who loves nothing more than fixing things or inventing gadgets to solve everyday problems. however, sometimes her inventions don't quite work as intended. With the help of her supportive grandpa, and an injured crow she rescues, Izzy learns to how to persist and stay upbeat - "try again and again" - until she finally succeeds.
Izzy is a likeable heroine who acts as a great model for girls in STEM, similar to Rosie Revere, Engineer and Ada Twist, Scientist. A bonus is that Izzy is imagined as a person of colour. The rhyming text has a rollicking rhythm that speeds the story along, and Sara Ogilvie does a good job imagining Izzy's marvellous and fanciful inventions.
Izzy is a likeable heroine who acts as a great model for girls in STEM, similar to Rosie Revere, Engineer and Ada Twist, Scientist. A bonus is that Izzy is imagined as a person of colour. The rhyming text has a rollicking rhythm that speeds the story along, and Sara Ogilvie does a good job imagining Izzy's marvellous and fanciful inventions.
April 23, 2018
Great rhymes, message and illustrations!
June 25, 2021
Kind of cute but I don't like that she "borrowed" so many things. At least she has to fix all the things she broke in the end. I like Rosie Revere, Engineer a bit better and Ada Twist, Scientist even more (though that's not about engineering/inventing). Also, a lot of the book rhymes but some of the text doesn't quite match that and it is jarring.
December 19, 2017
In a rhyme that surprises and delights you, (n=mended/splendid) we learn of Izzy's determination to invent and invent and invent. She is not deterred and ultimately helps a friend in need. The encouragement of grandpa helps. Wonderful illustrations focus on Izzy's eyes.....bit and curious and she is often in mid stride. Ogilvie's illustrations are bright, child and activity focuses, Izzy is always busy and her gizmos are intriguing. A delightful book to encourage invention, to encourage persistence and just to enjoy.
April 23, 2018
Izzy's persistence in inventing pays off.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews