Η άψογη Ισαβέλα

by Tony Ross, Βερίνα Χωρεάνθη (translator), Ελένη Χωρεάνθη (editor)

Η Ισαβέλα είναι τέλεια. Ένα τέτοιο παιδί-υπόδειγμα μόνο "άψογο" θα μπορούσε να ονομαστεί. Αλλά στο τέλος την πατάει. Κι άλλο ένα ευχάριστο βιβλίο απ' αυτόν τον τόσο δημοφιλή συγγραφέα και εικονογράφο.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

28 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Tony Ross is a British illustrator and author of children's picture books. He was a student at the Liverpool School of Art and Design. Ross has had quite a few occupations, such as cartoonist, graphic designer, art director at an advertising agency, senior lecturer in art and head of the illustration course at Manchester Polytechnic.
Ross won the 1986 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, picture books category, for Ich komm dich holen!, (I'm coming to get you! - Andersen, 1984. He was runner-up for the 1990 Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject, for Dr. Xargle's book of Earth Tiggers.

Meet the illustrator
What is your favourite animal?
A cat
What is your favourite boy’s name?
Bill
What is your favourite girl’s name?
Roxanne
What is your favourite food?
Lobster
What is your favourite music?
Irish
What is your favourite hobby?
Sailing

Reviews

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super Dooper Jezebel is a direct lineal descendant of Hillaire Belloc's Charles Augustus Fortescue, one of my all-time favorite anti-heroes. If you don't know this wonderful poem, it starts with the lines

The nicest child I ever knew
Was Charles Augustus Fortescue.
He never lost his cap, or tore
His stockings or his pinafore:
In eating Bread he made no Crumbs,
He was extremely fond of sums,
To which, however, he preferred
The Parsing of a Latin Word

Jezebel is just as irritatingly perfect in all the ways a sane child knows are absolutely irrelevant, and as deficient in everything truly important. But the stories end differently. The last verse of the Belloc poem is as follows:

He thus became immensely Rich,
And built the Splendid Mansion which
Is called The Cedars, Muswell Hill,
Where he resides in affluence still,
To show what everybody might
Become by SIMPLY DOING RIGHT.

Jezebel meets a different fate. One day, there is a great commotion at school. Everyone is screaming that a crocodile has escaped! Jezebel prissily tells them not to run around like that, their socks might falls down. But they're right and she's wrong, and the crocodile swallows her in one gulp. He also gets the last word. He belches and says:

I'VE HAD BETTER

If you have a small child who's not perfect, they may conceivably like this book. (Mine did). The movie is extremely faithful to the text.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used this book to teach children that being perfect does not always mean you will be liked. A lovely story that really got the message across.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's always a little satisfying when a terribly annoying goodie-goodie gets her comeuppance. Wicked in all the right ways.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh wow how this book makes me feel strong feelings. It does end pretty abruptly though.

[RM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although Jezebel gets the equation on page 9 wrong...

[Joy Maude · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book

[Risa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story will let young children know that you don't have to be perfect. There is no such thing as a perfect person; all of us are unique. The little girl in this story misses out on all of the fun of just being a kid, because she is too intent on reaching perfection. Children learn from this story that if they do the things that they need to do by just doing their best,their "unique" best will shine.

extension:

The teacher will tape a large white piece of paper on the floor. The children will put their hands in various colors of fingerpaint. They may put their prints on the paper and see all of the differences in each child's hand print. There will be a class discussion about how all of the handprints are different because everyone is unique, and how our hands are able to do amazing things.

[Oanh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story tells about the little girl who thinks that she is a perfect person. In this book, the story let the little girl know that people do not have to be perfect. Although she works well in everything but not at all are perfect and that isn't good enough, so she becomes a person.
This book used to teach children how to control their feeling by themselves in all them character

[Samantha Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

There was no storyline for students to follow. When it came to literary qualities, the book showed little character development. The format was not the best, as it did not have a hard cover, and the letters were pretty small.

[Georgia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Άλλο ένα υπέροχο βιβλίο από τον Tony Ross με εικονογράφηση που σε κάνει να τη σκέφτεσαι συνεχώς και να γελάς.

[Michael Earp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightfully subversive.

[Helen Swinyard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genius.

[CanadianReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending lacked the zip I'd hoped for.