I’d Rather Have an Iguana is a very cute story told by Heidi Mario. It’s about a little girl who just became a brand new sister to her little brother. We never are told the little girls name, but the story is told from her perspective. She says she would rather have an Iguana instead of a new brother. Throughout the story the little girl expresses certain things that come along with having a little brother that would gross her out. She also is having a hard time with the fact that she misses riding bikes and doing other fun things with her mom. No matter how hard her dad tries he can’t seem to braid her hair right or care for her in the way she would like him to. Then one day her and her little brother bonded and she came to see that having a little brother wasn’t so bad after all. I enjoyed the humor behind this story. I never had a sibling, but I can almost believe that I might have felt this way as the girl did in the story. This is a very good book to read to the young ones who are going through the same thing. ( )

I really liked the book I’d Rather Have an Iguana by Heidi Stetson Mario. One reason I liked this book is the humor. The little girl doesn't want a new sibling. When the parents ask what they should name him she gives them crazy ideas. She tries to name the baby “Wisconsin, corn flake, spot, and asparagus.” Her parents ignore her though and name the baby “Charles.” I also like how the little girl reacts to the new baby in this story. She tells her parents she would “rather have an iguana” and that the baby looks like an “alien.” I think the main idea of this story is to help children who have gotten new siblings. It teaches a great lesson about getting a new baby and how stressful it could be. The story shows the characters growth as a big sister and how a new sibling is not so bad. By the end of the story she even likes her new brother and says that he is now “cuter then an alien.” ( )

I really enjoyed reading this book for several reasons. For one, I liked the first-person point of view from which the story was told. I felt in order for me to understand what the big sister was going through, I needed to see how she felt first hand about her baby brother coming into the family. It is evident through her statements, “I miss riding bikes and hunting frogs in the swamp with mom” and “Dad can never get my braids just right” that she feels the void of her parents. Another reason why I enjoyed this story was because of the plot. I felt that the story was organized in such a way that made me want to keep reading. For most of the book, the big sister feels alone and forgotten, though towards the ending, she starts to embrace her baby brother’s presence. Had the author not built up the conflict between the two siblings, the ending with them loving one another would not have had such a strong impact. The main idea to this story is that additions to a family are not always a bad thing. Change can be hard to accept at first, though greater experiences can come with it, when given the chance. ( )

I enjoyed reading this story since the writing was engaging, the illustrations appropriated the mood of the story and the book pushes readers to understand and accept new family members. In I’d Rather Have an Iguana, a family has a new baby and the daughter is very apprehensive to accepting him into her family. The new baby, Charles, is changing everything. Her mom is always feeding, changing and walking around with Charles. Her dad takes care of her now and he doesn’t make her braids right and puts too much into the tuna fish. The older sibling is not ready to accept her baby brother until one day she goes into see him and he wakes up. He holds onto her finger and smiles. With this experience and seeing him grow up she learns to accept him and that he likes iguanas too! The writing made this story in enjoyable since certain words or phrases were written in a different way or typed in bold print. Words like “no” and “no baby” were typed in bold italics to make a clear distaste for the new addition to the family. The phrase “Quick, come here. The baby’s smiling!” was italicized and centered across two pages almost giving the idea that the words were floating to the other room where the Dad was. It made the words have more meaning and moved the story along. The illustrations appropriated the mood of the story since the daughter, and narrator, was always drawn with an expression of distaste, disapproval or an upset manner. Slowly she begins to be drawn in a more enthusiastic and inviting way as she accepts her baby brother. Readers who were just learning could figure out the story’s mood through the drawings of the older sister. The book pushes readers to either connect to the fact of adding a new sibling and/or help them understand what having a younger sibling can mean. Yes the daughter starts out wanting an iguana and having her mom around to do things with her but she quickly adjusts and learns that Charles is growing up and likes iguanas as well, which is what any older sibling goes through; learning that the younger child has something in common with you so you have to give them a chance. The big idea of this story is that families grow and you have to learn to accept those changes no matter how difficult. ( )

This is an adorable book that is perfect for children who will be a new big brother or sister. Often, children will feel very jealous and left out when a new baby arrives and this book describes that feeling perfectly. Once her new baby brother comes home, she describes him as looking like an alien. She complains that all of her mothers time is taken up with the new baby and she doesn't feel loved anymore.The illustrations are great because it portrays the emotions in the young girls face as she watches her mother take care of the new baby. By the end of the book, she realizes that having a baby brother isn't so bad, and they actually share interests. She begins to love her new brother and accept him into the family. ( )