SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: IZZY GIZMO AND THE INVENTION CONVENTION
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.pipjones.net/
CITY: London, England
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
LAST VOLUME: SATA 328
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Has a partner; children: two.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and editor.
AWARDS:Greenhouse Funny Prize, Writers’ Workshop, 2012, for Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
SUBMITTED IN SGML FORMAT.
Pip Jones is a British writer of children’s books. In an interview with a contributor to the Writers’ Workshop website, Jones stated: “I always wanted to write. From the age of six or so, I used to spend my weekends writing stories. They did often rhyme actually. My mum sent me something the other day that she’d found—a rhyming story about a spider called Harry, which I must have written when I was about eight. The scansion needed a bit of work, but not that much!” Jones continued: “An old schoolfriend reminded me not long ago that I’d told her I wanted to be a children’s author when I was nine. So I always wanted to, but my career swung in a journalistic and editing direction. When I had my two children, I sort of remembered that writing was what I had really wanted to do and so it’s wonderful that I’ve been able to realise an ambition I held for so long.”
Jones’s first book, Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat! won the Writers’ Workshop‘s Greenhouse Funny Prize in 2012. It is the first in a series starring a little girl named Ava and her titular invisible cat. Squishy McFluff and Ava play pranks on Ava’s parents, frustrating them greatly. When Great Grandad Bill comes to visit, he reasons with Ava, urging her to stop misbehaving with Squishy. In the interview with the contributor to the Writers’ Workshop website, Jones stated: “Ava and Squishy are naughty—but not maliciously so. Their motives are actually very childlike and sweet, and I hope that is something which will strike a chord with parents.”
A Publishers Weekly reviewer described the book as “a punchy rhyming escapade.” “This playful early chapter book will attract emergent readers with its rhyming text,” remarked Julia Smith in Booklist. A Kirkus Reviews writer commented: “Little Americans might need a translation or two, but Ava and Squishy will charm them nonetheless.” Prue Goodwin, critic in School Librarian, predicted: “Written in rhyme, this tale will appeal to many younger children in the primary school.”
Daddy’s Sandwich finds a young girl offering to make a sandwich for her father that includes all of his favorite things. Humorously, the girl adds her dad’s cell phone, slippers, and the television remote to the sandwich’s ingredients. A writer in Publishers Weekly praised “the humorous absurdity of the premise, which should prompt plenty of giggles.” A Kirkus Reviews critic noted: “This book may spark inspiration—dads best hide their treasures.” “Kids will love groaning over all of the crazy ingredients,” predicted Sally James in School Library Journal.
In The Chocolate Monster, inhabitants of a town are warned about a bandit stealing chocolate. The bandit is nicknamed The Chunk. Peter Dickinson, a contributor to School Librarian, noted that the book features “a lively text by Pip Jones.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 15, 2017, Julia Smith, review of Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat!, p. 55.
Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2017, review of Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat!; April 1, 2017, review of Daddy’s Sandwich.
Publishers Weekly, April 17, 2017, review of Daddy’s Sandwich, p. 68; April 24, 2017, review of Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat!, p. 93.
School Librarian, summer, 2014, Prue Goodwin, review of Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat!, p. 92; autumn, 2017, Peter Dickinson, review of The Chocolate Monster, p. 158.
School Library Journal, June 1, 2017, Sally James, review of Daddy’s Sandwich, p. 74.
ONLINE
Pip Jones Website, http://www.pipjones.net (January 29, 2018).
Writers’ Workshop Website, http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/ (March 12, 2014), author interview.*
Pip Jones
Hello!
You’ve landed (doink!) on my website, thanks for dropping by.
I write books for children which have been published all over the world.
Have a look around my site to find out lots more about my books and events.
Then contact me at pipsq@live.com. Or just follow me on Twitter and say hi!
I'm represented by Julia Churchill at A.M. Heath.
Publicity Managers:
Hannah.Love@faber.co.uk
Eve.WersockiMorris@simonandschuster.co.uk
Pip Jones
Pip Jones lives in East London with her partner, her two daughters and a real invisible cat (it doesn't catch mice, but it doesn't need a litter tray either, so there are pros and cons). She writes a lot. She even owns a writing cloak! And she spends days on end working out how to get good rhymes, such as 'snuffle' and 'kerfuffle', into stories. Pip won the inaugural Greenhouse Funny Prize in 2012 with Squishy McFluff, The Invisible Cat, her first book.
New Books
March 2020
(hardback)
Mommy's SuitcaseJune 2020
(kindle)
On with the Show
(Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat!)
Series
Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat!
The Invisible Cat! (2014)
The Supermarket Sweep! (2014)
Meets Mad Nana Dot (2015)
Secret Santa (2015)
Seaside Rescue! (2016)
The Big Country Fair (2016)
The Squishy McFluff Collection (2018)
Tea with the Queen (2018)
On with the Show (2020)
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Piggy Handsome
1. Guinea Pig Destined for Stardom! (2017)
2. Piggy Hero (2018)
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Picture Books
Daddy's Sandwich (2015)
Chocolate Monster (2017)
Izzy Gizmo (2017)
Quick, Barney . . . RUN! (2018)
Mummy's Suitcase (2019)
Mommy's Suitcase (2019)
Izzy Gizmo and the Invention Convention (2019)
Pip Jones is a UK based children's author. Pip's prize-winning rhyming series about Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat! was inspired by her daughter, who discovered her own imaginary kitten as a toddler. Pip also writes picture books: the Ruby Roo Story series includes Daddy's Sandwich, The Chocolate Monster and Quick, Barney... RUN! (coming in 2018). Pip's latest picture book, Izzy Gizmo is an inspiring tale about a little girl inventor, written in rhyme.
Pip Jones lives in East London with her partner, her two daughters and a real invisible cat (it doesn't catch mice, but it doesn't need a litter tray either, so there are pros and cons). She writes a lot. She even owns a writing cloak! And she spends days on end working out how to get good rhymes, such as 'snuffle' and 'kerfuffle', into stories. Pip won the inaugural Greenhouse Funny Prize in 2012 with Squishy McFluff, The Invisible Cat, her first book.
Pip Jones
Agent : Julia Churchill
pipjones.net
Pip is a writer and editor living in London.
She’s been working for local and national magazines for the last 18 years, but now with two pint-sized maniacs rampaging through her house on a daily basis, she has turned her attention to writing mainly about parenting.
Her column Terrible Twos: Our Invisible Kitten (http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/02/23/terrible-twos-our-invisible-kitten) inspired the character Squishy McFluff.
Squishy McFluff, The Invisible Cat won the Greenhouse Funny Prize 2012.
Author Interview: Pip Jones
Izzy Gizmo’s inventions are marvelous, magnificent—and they often malfunction. But when she finds a crow with a broken wing, she just has to help! Izzy tries again and again to build a new pair of wings, but nothing is working. And that makes Izzy really cross! Can Izzy overcome her failures? Or is her friend destined to live as a crow who can’t fly? We asked Izzy Gizmo author Pip Jones about what sparked this feisty tale of determination, ingenuity, and friendship, and why Izzy Gizmo will resonate with aspiring young inventors.
Q: Where did your inspiration for Izzy Gizmo come from?
A: I often procrastinate and allow my mind to wander, and I’m always having silly ideas for (really BRILLIANT) machines. One morning I wrote a lengthy post about one of my ideas on Facebook (the Egg Tap—it would have required serious commitment from the government, if I’m completely honest, to install a nationwide network of underground pipes). I think I wrote about 850 words, going into all the details of how it would work and replying to various responses from friends. But then I read a comment from my friend Sarah (also an author, and she knows her stuff), who wrote something like: “OMG, Pip?! You’ve just written practically a day’s word count about an Egg Tap! DO. SOME. WORK.” So I laughed, logged out of Facebook… and wrote the first draft of Izzy Gizmo.
Q: Were you a little inventor as a child? If so, what were your favorite tools?
A: I was more a writer as a child. I’d decided by the age of seven that I wanted to be an author for a living. I spent all of my weekends hand-writing stories and poems. Possibly one of my best ever gifts was a typewriter, so I guess you could say that was my favorite ‘tool’. That said, my Grandad Bill was a bit of an inventor—he was always making funny little machines and gadgets in his garage and my sister and I loved being in there with him.
Q: STEM and STEAM are critical components of today’s education curriculum, as is the growing makerspace movement. Were you thinking about those trends when you wrote Izzy Gizmo?
A: Oh yes, it was part of it, of course—I have children who are experiencing more STEM/STEAM in school, and in life. But it was also Izzy’s personality that drove it. I don’t like to write saccharine girls. I loved the image I had in my mind of Izzy: a kid with her very own tool bag. Not the clichéd geeky inventor girl, and not a tomboy either—simply a girl who’s feisty and bold and real. It’s not at all unusual for little girls (as well as boys) to like hitting things with sticks, climbing trees, making Lego airplanes, and playing with tool kits—whether or not they wear skirts. I have two of those girls myself! It does seem crazy that side of all these normal little girls’ personalities has been under-represented. Not any more though, I think—and STEM/STEAM and the makerspace movement are already helping with that hugely.
Q: The theme of trial and error and failure runs throughout Izzy Gizmo. Did that theme come first or did it develop naturally while writing the story?
A: That theme was there from the outset, yes—for comedy value as much as anything else! I love that Izzy gets all enthused for making her crazy inventions, and then they go hilariously wrong, making her absolutely furious. Again, that’s just real life; it’s frustrating when things go wrong. Sara Ogilvie’s art is just incredible for capturing all that. I couldn’t possibly have imagined Izzy’s life better than Sara drew it.
Q: How important do you think the concept of failure (and trying again) is in children’s books?
A: Oh, very. You know, one of the most fascinating things I discovered when I had my own children is how very base tiny human beings are at the outset. You know how babies and toddlers HATE to share? Sharing is learned behavior, it’s not instinctive behavior. Part of our job as parents (apart from the obvious feeding them, clothing them, and keeping them safe) is to socialize children, and to encourage them to fulfill their potential. Unless we are faced with, say, starvation or danger, and our life depends on us pushing ourselves to the limit, it’s ever so natural to take the easy option and decide: “Nah. Tried it, can’t do it, too hard!” But of course, to actually fulfill our potential, we have to learn to push ourselves, which in some ways is challenging when you’re tiny and learning. So, yes, I think it’s an important message for little people!
Q: Izzy’s inventions are certainly wild! If you could invent anything beyond your wildest dreams, what would it be?
A: I’ve already invented it, I just haven’t made it yet: the Blink-Tastic. So, you stick a pinhead-sized miracle to your eyelid, and then you can just blink yourself anywhere in the world, at any moment (without crashing into anything, including other Blinkers). It’d be so handy—I’d never be late ever again. And I’d be able to just go and spend my lunch hour in the Maldives for some relaxation, or the edge of the Grand Canyon for some exhilaration, and then be back in plenty of time to pick the kids up from school. I mean, how great would that be?!
Q: Which is your favorite of Izzy’s failed creations? Why? A: Izzy has lots of inventions, some of which don’t appear in the book—but from this story, it has to be the Swirly-Spagsonic. I find it funny that a little kid would spend so much time building an absolutely colossal machine… just to eat spaghetti with!Q: Izzy’s grandpa is a key figure in the book. Did your grandparents have any influence on your writing and creativity? A: I’ve been very lucky—I knew all my grandparents into my adulthood and every one of them was wonderful and inspiring. In fact, I still have my paternal grandfather—Grandad Bill is 104! Certainly both of my grandfathers were creative people and I must have inherited all sorts of genes, as we all do. Grandad Bill is not published, but he loves to write, and he always encouraged me. A few years ago he handed me an envelope of everything of mine he’d he kept since I was about six! That was lovely.Q: The crow is another character we immediately fell in love with at Peachtree, but crows can often carry a bad rap in the animal world. Did you choose a crow for a reason?
A: Crows are so clever! I love them. They talk to you, and they look at you right in the eye. The crow wasn’t featured in the first draft of Izzy Gizmo—but he actually existed before she did. I imagined him a few years ago, when I’d been commissioned to write some books under a pen name. The stories—set in a magic school for animals—had been mapped out by the editors, and my job was to simply write the chapters. I never put him in those stories, but he was a very strong character for me—a crow, called Fixer, living in a ramshackle shed, mending old bits of machinery with his beak. In the second draft of Izzy Gizmo, I decided Izzy’s inventions weren’t the whole story, and she would like very much to have a friend, a sidekick. Then of course, who fluttered out of the depths of my memory? I’m so glad I’d squirreled Fixer away, because he and Izzy were just the perfect fit. I love them so much together.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from Izzy Gizmo?
A: The obvious message is one of perseverance and as I said, that’s really important. But I’d also like readers to feel warmed by Izzy’s relationship with her Grandpa, and to feel the strength of her friendship with Fixer. Grandpa gently pushes Izzy, but in the end it’s also the emotion she feels for the heartbroken bird that drives her to keep trying. I mean, just look at the pictures. I’m totally in awe of how Sara injected so much sadness/frustration/determination/joy into a beaked creature! Of course Izzy was driven by that, who wouldn’t be? So yes, what I really hope readers also take away from the book is what I put (albeit less obviously) at the heart of the story: love.
Get your copy of Izzy Gizmo at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble starting March 1!
Jones, Pip IZZY GIZMO Peachtree (Children's Fiction) $16.95 3, 1 ISBN: 978-1-68263-021-1
Young inventor Izzy attempts to help an injured crow fly again.
Izzy Gizmo loves making things. She loves creating, mending, and improving so much so that she carries "her tool bag wherever she [goes]." Sadly, however, her inventions "don't always work." In rhyming verse, readers are told exactly how Izzy's inventions misbehave, while the colorful illustrations highlight their complexity. Frustrated Izzy is encouraged by her caregiver grandfather, who, though the victim of her misbehaving innovations, dispenses this advice: "Sometimes you need / to try again and again if you want to succeed." When Izzy discovers an injured crow that the vet says won't fly again, she engages it in fun, earthbound activities, but the crow's heart is still in the skies. Izzy decides to use her talents to make the crow new wings: she researches, makes lists, and gathers parts, but like her previous inventions, none of the wings work properly. At many points along the way, curly-haired, brown-skinned Izzy wants to quit--and says so--but continues to persevere and in the end succeeds. Though readers may wonder if the rhymes were necessary, this story of a girl engineer is sorely needed and has potential to develop and nourish readers' interest in STEAM subjects. Additionally, themes of creativity and tenacity, together with the portrayal of a girl who's allowed to show anger and frustration, make this a worthwhile read.
Fun, with depth. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 8th Edition APA 6th Edition Chicago 17th Edition
"Jones, Pip: IZZY GIZMO." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2018. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A525461392/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9196a5b6. Accessed 26 Feb. 2020.
Jones, Pip IZZY GIZMO AND THE INVENTION CONVENTION Peachtree (Children's Fiction) $17.99 3, 1 ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy's "inventions…don't always work," Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey "over fields, hills, and waves" and "mile after mile" to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt-esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa's advice to create a machine that "can really be put to good use." A frustrated Izzy's impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all's well that ends well. There's much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it's great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an "Invention Convention" is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don't make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 8th Edition APA 6th Edition Chicago 17th Edition
"Jones, Pip: IZZY GIZMO AND THE INVENTION CONVENTION." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2020. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A612619058/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=cdaf8a80. Accessed 26 Feb. 2020.