Title: Izzy the Very Bad BurglarAuthor: Amy Proud
Izzy comes from a family of excellent burglars. But every time Izzy takes something that doesn’t belong to her, she gets a bad feeling in her stomach that won’t go away. She tries to tell her parents about the bad feeling, but whenever she mentions it, they tell her she needs to be a good burglar.
Izzy finds ways to make the funny feeling in her stomach subside. She and her friend, Frog, start by tidying up as they burgle. They make the beds, dust, wash the dishes, and do the laundry. When the people come home, some of their things will be gone . . . but at least they won’t have any chores to do.
But that isn’t quite enough. So Izzy also starts baking her special double chocolate brownies with gooey caramel chunks. When the people realize they’ve been burgled, at least they will have a nice, tidy house with no chores to do and something sweet to eat.
But that isn’t quite enough either. Will Izzy ever find a way to get rid of this funny feeling she gets every time she has to steal? Will she find a way to be a good burglar and a good person, too? Readers will fall in love with this little troublemaker with a very big heart.
What a cute book! At first I was thinking how will this book make a positive out of doing something wrong and can it really show kids a good message. And it does both really well! I just love that she combats the funny (icky) feeling in her stomach when she steals by doing nice things for the family. I always try to teach my kids that when make a poor choice you need to find a way to make it better for the person you hurt. But it's cute how far she ends up taking this! And I really loved how the families were starting to set things up so she'd steal from their house so they could get all the cleaning and baking! Very fun twist! The ending was perfect because it allowed Izzy to do what she needed and feel good about it. Loved that.
The illustrations were adorable. Lots for kids to look at and notice. I loved the details and the colors used. They really brought the story to life and gave it a fun whimsy that added to Izzy's growing need to do more and more nice things for people.
In the end - a cute book that shows the joy doing something nice for someone can bring.
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