Occasionally you find an author that has many talents and Izzy B is one of those. If he’s not off doing school visits he’s producing videos for his Stories4Space YouTube channel, where he reads stories to crazy alien puppets he makes himself. Then, in all of his spare time, he’s writing and illustrating books and inventing Underwear Cannons that enable him to launch Tighty Whities across a school gym. We’re happy he squeezed in time for an interview for our second Author Spotlight in February!
Meet author Izzy B of IzzyBBooks!
You were once an elementary school teacher. What made you quit teaching to write children’s books?
It’s been my dream to be an author since the 1st grade. My real pursuit started during my college years, and I often read my stories to my students to get their reactions. It was always my plan to just teach and create books at the same time, but as I got better at illustrating, I received more and more emails from potential clients. Eventually, it got to the point where I could transition to full-time author!
You also do Stories4Space, what inspired you to review books written by other authors and make a fun production out of each one?
I enjoy making puppets. There’s something about them that just connects with kids on a whole other level. I had this idea of an author reading books to aliens to help them better understand earth. Someone told me it was essential that whatever route I went Izzy B MUST be a main character, so it just seemed like a good idea that I read books to aliens. Aliens will have a really backward way of thinking, so this helps create a lot of fun ways to storytell while showcasing other authors.
Which of your books is your favorite and why?
I really love Count Spatula. It’s full of silly puns, wacky food puns like feet loaf, and the story is really silly. My goal is to one day turn it into a theater production because I could see this going over REALLY well. It has a lot of potential on the stage.
Are we going to see more of your friend “Sparkle” the tarantula in a book in the future?
Who knows?! Sparkles doesn’t really like the spotlight too much. Being a spider she enjoys the dark, but maybe someday she will make her debut. Spiders are such amazing creatures and very misunderstood. Don’t get me wrong… There are nasty spiders! But most of them are just helping us get rid of mosquitos. Sparkles is a pretty chill tarantula, and I could see her definitely making an interesting story.
