I've had this book sitting on my shelf in hardcover for a while now...but I hate reading hardcover books so have always stopped myself from even opening it. Finally, with a vacation looming - I took the plunge and bought the ebook. I'm so happy I did. It's no secret that I am a HUGE Tolkien fan (hell - I have his monogram tattooed on my back, for cripes sake), so it is amazing that I didn't do this sooner. The book turned out to be an excellent vacation read for me.The story of Roverandom was born when Tolkien was vacationing with his family one year. His son happened to lose a little toy dog on the beach and Tolkien used it as inspiration to pen a story about the adventures of another little toy dog, named Rover.
Rover is a real dog until he bites the pantleg of a nasty wizard who turns him into a little toy dog. A little toy dog who is still fairly alive in the evenings. When the toy dog is then lost on the beach, he must try to make his way back to the little boy who lost him, but he has many exciting adventures along the way. First, he encounters a sand sorcerer who turns him back into a real dog again, though a teeny, toy-sized one. Then, Rover must visit the Man-on-the-moon, where he has many adventures with the Man's little dog. When the Man-on-the-moon cannot help him get back to his normal size and return him to the little boy, Rover (now Roverandom, to avoid confusion since the Man-on-the-moon's dog was also called Rover) must seek out the wizard who originally changed him. Alas, that wizard has married a princess of the mer-people and lives at the bottom of the sea...so Roverandom must travel there to ask him to restore him to normal. The adventures continue until, at long last, the little dog makes his way home.
This little novel is so full of imagination and magic that it was a joy to read. It IS very much a children's book and I truly look forward to reading aloud to my girlies from it very soon.
Highly recommended.
