The Adventures of Izzy and Ella by A.J. Cameron

I had to make sure my youngster understood that it's a fantasy story and that in real life, dogs shouldn't eat sweets as it would make them sick. I know it's a fairytale fantasy story, but young children might think it's ok for dogs to eat sweets. I really do hate to be nit-picky about such a cute and fun story, but since this book is aimed at 3-8 year olds, and young readers can be quite impressionable, I would advise chatting to your child about the part where Ella and Izzy both eat the palace made out of sweets. I appreciate that the adventure was conveyed in rhyme, though at times I thought some of the lines could be quite stilted when the author focused too hard on making it rhyme rather than using natural syntax, as in: 'The ant was stood on a small piece of wood // Maybe use it to fix the boat they could' and 'At the end of the river, two mermaids they saw // Ella waved with both hands, so did Izzy with her paws.' Making sure not to sacrifice syntax for the sake of making a poem rhyme is one of the first things poets learn in creative writing classes. It's a fun, adventurous story that put me in mind of Alice in Wonderland, and has similar elements to some well-known fairytales too.

The design is lovely and the artwork bright and eye-catching. I picked this book as I'm always on the lookout for new kids stories for my youngster and this has very cute graphics.

The Adventures of Izzy and Ella by A.J. Cameron