Day of the Iguana (Hank Zipzer Series #3)

by Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver

Overview

Inspired by the true life experiences of Henry Winkler, whose undiagnosed dyslexia made him a classic childhood underachiever, the Hank Zipzer series is about the high-spirited and funny adventures of a boy with learning differences.

It's science project time in Ms. Adolf's class. This is good news and bad news for Hank-he loves science, but he hates the report part. So Hank turns to TV to take his mind off things. But when the program directory scrolls by too quickly for Hank to know what's on, he decides to take apart the cable box to try to slow down the crawl. Great! Now Hank has found the perfect science project! But what he wasn't counting on was his sister's pet iguana laying eighteen eggs in the disassembled cable box. How is Hank going to get out of this one?

Illustrated by Carol Heyer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780448432120
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	01/01/2001
Series:	Hank Zipzer Series
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	133,885
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	670L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Henry Winkler is an acomplished actor, producer and director.  In 2003, Henry added author to his list of acheivements as he co-authored a series of children's books.  Inspired by the true life experiences of Henry Winkler, whose undiagnosed dyslexia made him a classic childhood underachiever, the Hank Zipzer series is about the high-spirited and funny adventures of a boy with learning differences.

Henry is married to Stacey Weitzman and they have three children.

Lin Oliver is a writer and producer of movies, books, and television series for children and families. She has created over one hundred episodes of television, four movies, and seven books. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alan. They have three sons named Theo, Ollie, and Cole, one fluffy dog named Annie, and no iguanas.

Editorial Reviews

Favorite series continue with new episodes. Henry Winkler's engaging hero is back in Hank Zipzer: The Mostly True Confessions of the World's Best Underachiever: Day of the Iguana by Winkler and Lin Oliver, illus. by Carol Heyer. In this third book in the series, Hank takes apart the cable box for his science project. Now all he has to do is figure out how to put it back together-and it doesn't help when his sister's iguana makes a nest in the cable box. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 3-5-The third entry in the series explores friendship, forgiveness, understanding, and honesty. Hank promises to videotape an obscure science fiction movie for Frankie if the other boy will perform in his magic show. Unfortunately, the program guide on the television moves too quickly for Hank, and he accidentally tapes the wrong show, leaving his friend angry and disappointed. Hank must come up with a science experiment topic, and his mistake prompts him to try and invent a slow-scrolling TV channel guide for less-skilled readers. He dismantles his family's cable box and finds it difficult to reassemble. When he isn't paying attention, his sister's iguana moves into it and refuses to leave. In the end, Hank's increasingly elaborate schemes, his implied learning disability, and the iguana's eggs are all exposed. The wordy, first-person narration sometimes gets in the way of an already meandering story. Everything that happens is plausible enough, and Hank is a likable protagonist with good intentions. However, the authors frequently rely on his narrative role to take facile storytelling shortcuts and convey heavy-handed messages. "That's what you call true friendship," he unnecessarily explains after a simple gesture of kindness. Still, this child-friendly title is by no means the worst recent contribution to the celebrity children's book canon.-Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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