Iggy & Oz (Series)
Summary
Iggy & Oz is a middle-grade novel series by J. J. Johnson. In it, twelve-year-old Iggy and his nine-year-old brother Oz go on zany adventures across their neighborhood, where the lines between imagination and reality begin to blur.
Assessment
The Iggy & Oz books takes the reader on wild, surreal adventures across the picturesque neighborhood of Whispering Pines. The irrepressible and imaginative Iggy, along with his little brother Oz and a collection of their friends, encounter strange happenings the adults just don’t quite seem to understand. Using a highly conversational and personal tone, the Iggy & Oz books are written like they are coming straight from Iggy’s diary (with a few chapters here and there by Oz).
The books’ adventures range from nerve-wracking — plastic dinosaurs coming to life — to gross — a giant ball of snot coming to life — with Iggy occasionally learning a life lesson somewhere in the middle. None of the books have a clear moral or behavioral message that follows through the plot, although Iggy does often caution kids reading these books to not copy his behavior (although this often feels like an afterthought). Additionally, some of the plots and chapters can be a bit clunky, especially in the earlier books; the overall story, characters, and plot even out by the fourth book The Great Ice Cream Heist.
In terms of cleanliness, the series’ only real lack of cleanliness is more literal; one book literally features a giant ball of snot coming to life and terrorizing the neighborhood. Each of the other books have a few jokes that lean into the “gross boy” kind of humor, but there is no cussing, no serious violence (just ”kids playing action hero” kind of violence, plus some scrapes and bruises), and no adult themes.
The series does make reference to God a little bit, but there really is no greater theological or moral message.
Light-o-Meter
Overall — 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Story: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Prose: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Quality: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Age Appropriateness — Appropriate for intended audiences of middle grade and up.
Talk
Okay, so, to be perfectly honest I was not a huge fan of this series. Before I get farther into why I want to say that I could tell it was a lot of fun and was really trying to meet kids at their level. There was a lot of gross boy humor and the characters were really approachable and likely relatable to the target audience. The adventures themselves were really imaginative and it was easy to see how kids could come up with these weird, fantastical stories on some boring summer afternoon. The series is absolutely something that some kids — especially those that like Diary of a Wimpy Kid — would really enjoy.
Now, what I did not necessarily like this series comes down to one specific thing: Until the fourth book — for me — the overall storytelling quality just isn’t quite there.
(And, yes, storytelling quality is just as important for kids’ fiction as it is for adult fiction, especially in the Christian fiction realm. I will absolutely die on this hill.)
I do very much think that J.J. Johnson has an enormous amount of potential as a kids’ fiction writer. I could clearly see how his approach to storytelling could delight his target audience and the books did improve as the series went on. In the last book, the plot had a lot more structure, the characters were starting to settle into who they are (as was the humor), and it was a little less surreal (but still very imaginative). The Great Ice Cream Heist felt like it actually had a plot and a direction, where the other books were a bit hit-or-miss.
Additionally, the first three books left me pretty confused as both an adult who’s pretty good at meeting fiction at it’s grade level and a storyteller who really enjoys imagination-bending stories. I absolutely love some surrealism in my books, but I think the play between “is this all a huge fiction Iggy and his friends came up with” and “is this actually happening to Iggy and Company” was incredibly muddled in the first three books; despite the fact I love the concept, it was really difficult to figure out what I should believe while reading the stories. I think most kids will just plow right through it without giving it a second thought, but I’m afraid some are going to get pretty confused or just miss out on all the nuances the story is trying to offer.
All of that being said, if your kid enjoys kind of out-there stories that meet them where they are at, I would highly recommend checking this series out. It could also be a great option if your kid really enjoys gross humor, but you kind of want it presented in a slightly more controlled way.
Where to Enjoy
J.J. Johnson Store: Products | JJJohnsonBooks
Amazon: Iggy & Oz (5 book series) Kindle Edition
Books-a-Million: Iggy & Oz : The Plastic Dinos of Doom by J. J. Johnson
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