I read this one with my 2nd grade daughter. While I found the story fairly stagnant and frankly a bit boring she seemed to really enjoy it! She loved the illustrations! I guess it goes to show that age really does matter! And after reading this, guess who wants a dog?!?? Thanks to Netgalley for this opportunity

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn't for me. I did like the pictures, but the story didn't really engage me. I think a younger audience will like it better.

What a cute story!

I absolutely loved Izzy and how original she was. The story starts out with her and her best friend, Zoe. They get upset with each other because Izzy has a tendency to get them into trouble with her ideas.

While trying to cheer her up, Mom tells Izzy they're going to get a dog! And the new adventure ensues. Izzy finds out how much work a dog can be and she can't wait to share her new adventure with Zoe, even though she's still upset with Izzy.

The pictures spread throughout this book were adorable and I really enjoyed the entire story. This is perfect for young readers.

Izzy is an irrepressible, entertaining hero in the vein of Junie B Jones or Clementine. She has too much energy and often doesn't think before she acts, leading to trouble that she seldom sees coming. Getting a dog, as we might expect, teaches her to think ahead and pay attention. It forces her to be more responsible. While the plot is fairly predictable, it's easy for young readers to follow and the vocabulary is accessible.

Plot line : Isabel aka Izzy is close friends with Zoe. They are always together doing things which sometimes doesn't go well. One day Izzy did something that made Zoe leave her in the dog house. This made Izzy sad and she hoped getting a pet dog might change the situation.
Review; Izzy's hilariously weird actions may seem mischievous. After all she is a kid and she supposed to be so. Other than a trouble maker I found Izzy to be a nice girl. I enjoyed her friendship with Zoe and moments with her pet dog. A fun quick read.
Perfect for middle grade children.

I thought this was cute! I got a kick out of Izzy. She felt realistic to me for a first or second grader. I thought the author did a great job of showing some of her quirkiness and boundless enthusiasm and the adult responses to her in a way that made me chuckle, but didn't bog down the story. I especially loved how many times she had "love at first sight" with the puppy. So cute! For me, Izzy's quirks and antics were endearing rather than annoying. Your mileage may vary.

The friendship piece of the story was realistic as well. Friends get annoyed with each other, especially at that age, and when a trip to the principal is involved. I thought the adults in Izzy's life gave her good advice to wait for Zoe to come around, which she does.

The puppy story and the friendship story felt like almost separate entities, but connected through the ending when Izzy and Zoe play with the puppy together. I think kids will enjoy this.

This book just didn't meet my expectations of it. I thought it would be more about Izzy and a dog throughout the whole book, but the first couple of chapters made me bored and lessen my enjoyment of the story. I still can see the appeal of this to other people and to children, but sadly, it's not for me.

This was an okay story about two young girls who are friends. They get into trouble and and then Izzy gets into the doghouse. There are some good parts of the story like highlighting different family make ups, but over all this is a mediocre story. I did appreciate the illustrations. I just wanted a little more out of the characters.

What child doesn’t want a dog? The cover and title seems like this will be a sweet early reader that kids can relate to, but what results is a rather quirky story about Izzy, a very unrelatable character who feeds boys pine cones and other really odd shenanigans. I just couldn’t buy into this book, and while I’m very open about the books my kids read, I wouldn’t recommend this for them. There are too many good books with sweet messages and string characters to recommend this one.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me the chance to review this book, I received an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I can sum up this book in one word: boring.

A chapter book should be easy to read. More than that, though, it should be interesting. This one is not. In the very beginning, we're introduced to a strange (and highly annoying) child. Throughout the book, she does odd things like eat dirt, chew on electrical cords, and lick her friend's face. What was probably supposed to come off as quirky came across as pathological.

My main issue with this book is the plot. Isabel and her friend Zoë have a falling-out after Izzy's odd behaviour gets them both in trouble at school. I figured that Isabel trying to mend the friendship would be the main plot of the book. Unfortunately, it's not. The book goes rambling off on a tangent about Isabel's adoption, then veers into dog-adopting territory, all while the kid acts like a bit of a narcissist. As it turns out, everything can be solved by getting a dog, and Isabel and Zoë's friendship is magically mended with the appearance of Rollo (the puppy).

I didn't like the secondary characters any better than Isabel, either. Her mother was kind of awful (ignoring her child most of the time so she could focus on her work, at one point even telling Isabel that "those are the kinds of questions you might wonder about, but not ask." Way to blow off your kid!). Rosa, the nanny, was kind of useless; she was always watching her soaps. (The relationship between the two women was also... strange. Were they a couple? Rosa had apparently been around since Isabel was a baby. Her mother adopted as a single woman, and then hired a live-in nanny right away so she could keep going on business trips? I guess that's possible, but the way Rosa was included in the family unit made me think there was something else going on there. Which would've been fine... had it been addressed.)

It took me forever to finish this, because the story just didn't draw me in. The overly easy resolution to the main conflict (which was the rift between Isabel and Zoë) made for one unsatisfying read. I will say, though, that the illustrations are kind of fun. I wish there had been more of those.

Overall, this was a big miss for me. I don't know if it's really going to hold the interest of kids, either. A book that's almost 200 pages needs to be able to deal with the main plot conflict without resorting to irrelevant padding.

The only thing the matter with me is that I have TOO MUCH LOVE. But I have a dog.

Izzy is one crazy little girl. She was in the dog house with school and her friends and then literally when her always gone adopted mother gave her a dog. Many crazy antics with this read. It was an overwhelming little girl and the story was too long.

Izzy has alot going on. She is adopted. Drama with friends and school. A mom she misses. A nanny that fills in the space while her mom is away. This one didn't do it for me at all and I am not to sure that a young reader will stick thru the 175 pages. Is it a case of it's me? You will have to take a chance for yourself.

A special thank you to Kids Can Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

Not to My Tastes

Izzy and her friend have a falling out because they get in trouble at school after misbehaving. Izzy later gets her dog, Rollo. This is a chapter book meant for early readers. As such, the characters and storyline are meant to appeal strictly to children as, theoretically, adults won't be reading this to them. I remember myself as a young reader, and I think I would have been insulted by this book because of the way it portrays children. I thought the book had an odd combination of events. After the way she misbehaves, she gets rewarded with a dog? For me, the humor fell flat, although you could see that attempts were made to be funny. The first part of the book was a trifle flat as well, although that did improve later in the book. All in all, I wasn't wild about this book, and so I feel like I can't recommend it.

I was intrigued by the description of the book and cover. I imagined a mix between Junie B. Jones and Ivy and Bean. It had all the pieces and I couldn't wait to get started. For the most part, the story is okay. I would purchase it for a classroom as I think students would enjoy reading about Izzy and the illustrations are engaging. The book gets off to a slow start, but the writing and story definitely improve in the second half of the book.

Thank you Netgalley and Kids Can Press Publishing for an e-ARC.

Izzy in the Doghouse is a sweet, middle grade book by Caroline Anderson with a great story and cute pictures.

The illustrations are my favourite part of this book. It's definitely a middle grade book aimed for middle graders. As an adult, I didn't enjoy it too much but I can easily see younger kids loving it. This book is playful, fun and quite sweet. There's lots of goofy antics that Izzy gets into during this book. I just feel like adults reading this with their middle graders won't get a kick out of it. This seems to be solely a book for only middle graders to enjoy. It felt too random and goofy for me, but that's kind of the point - I'm not the audience for this book. I simply enjoying jumping into today's middle grade books to see how literature has changed.

Positives:
1. Amazing illustrations
2. Short chapters
3. Goofy antics
4. Story highlighting a single Mother!
5. Puppies!

Overall, I think middle graders will enjoy it but I didn't enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed other middle grade novels. It's too random and silly for me, but it's still an excellent read. Middle graders who love comedy and fun will enjoy this.

Two out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

A fun book about getting a puppy for the first time. Izzy is a cute kid and Rollo is a charming puppy. I had fun reading this story. The artwork was also really cute!

The shenanigans of a spunky elementary school girl named Izzy. Enter her best friend Zoe, a caretaker, Rosa, and her mother - a loving business woman who adopted Izzy. Izzy gets into her fair share of mischief at school, feeding "babies" (boys younger than her) pine cones, feigning illness so she can leave class and go to the school nurse, and more. While likely a story to keep young folks turning the pages, we'll pass on this one as it didn't seem to have any redeeming value. However, the bits about Rollo the dog were fun and the cartoony illustrations are spot-on, therefore three stars.

cute! My 6 year old son enjoyed this! Fun illustrations!
Thank you for the free ARC. highly recommend!

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is a book about a little girl called Izzy who's best friend falls out with her because they got in trouble at school playing a game that was Izzys idea.
Then Izzy gets a puppy and they make friends again.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would and couldn't really take much of a liking to the characters either. The first half of the book is a bit flat for me but I found it picked up for the last half where Lizzy gets Rollo the puppy.

This is on me, but despite liking to read children books and stories, this was too juvenile for me. I thought it was a graphic novel, but it turned to be a light novel with some illustrations, and I could see a little girl enjoying its silly antics and friendship stories, but it just wasn't for me.

I thank netgalley for the digital ARC.

This is a lovely book! One that Ada will definitely enjoy for a few years to come as well. As a chapter book, it took a few days to read it to her, but she loved the story and really enjoyed it. I look forward to reading it to her again and again. Definitely a must read for little ones!