The Adventures of Odd & Elsewhere - Softcover

Grade 1-4-- An engaging story, but one which has some difficulties in terms of audience. Having been left behind by careless owners, Odd, a toy bear, and Elsewhere, a toy clown, have unusual adventures in London while they fend for themselves in a world in which people and toys seem to interact naturally. The story is written in the vein of light English fantasy, very characteristic of the adventurous toy stories which were popular during the late 1950s in England. Briticisms are strongly evident; Roose-Evans uses word play and, at times, rather old-fashioned expressions. For example, Elsewhere calls through a doorway to Odd: " 'Odds and boddikins!' exclaimed the voice, 'is that supposed to be an ode or an oddity?' " Occasionally, British terminology unfamiliar to American children is used to refer to household objects. The antics of Odd and Elsewhere are amusing, if not occasionally filled with daredevil, attention-getting antics. The format is that of a short novel; because of the vocabulary, it is too difficult to be read independently by seven or eight year olds. Yet this is the age at which the story would be most appreciated. The book may fare better as a read aloud by parents. --Karen P. Smith, Graduate School of Library and Information Study, Queens College, N.Y.
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