Roverandom

Rating:
Summary: the cutest book!!!!
Review: oh i loved this book so much!! i think that it was a very good book and very interesting. even though the reading level is about hmmm...3rd grade or so, any tolken fan should'nt go without it. it makes a really good read if you want a book that's short but intersting. :)

Rating:
Summary: Arbitrary Movement
Review: Reading Roverandom, by J.R.R. Tolkien, was like opening a dusty box of childhood memories left under my bed. It has a sort of playful side to it. When Rover was journeying to the moon on the back of a seagull named Mew, and almost traveled an actual road in the sky to get there. Tolkien dragged you into the plot by drawing you in as a part of his outrageous world, giving you a sense of belonging. For instance, he'd mention the names of the flowers on the moon, as if it were nothing and as if they were common knowledge. Fairbells, tinklebells, ringaroses, pennywhistles, tintrumpets, feathergrasses, fairy-fiddlestrings, etc... Roverandom was short and extremely fast-pace. Tolkien consumed big slices of time like homemade bread. He would say, "Rover and the Sea-dog had many more adventures under the ocean, but we can save those for another time." It left a lot of room for your imagination to run wild. Strangely, it was very entertaining. When Rover is under the ocean and causes the sea serpent to awaken on accident, his shy little attitude makes you sad for him. But, of course, good books are the ones that make you feel something. They are the ones that make you feel like you're the main character without ever having been in their position.
This little novel is about a little dog that goes on many strange and magical adventures. It starts off with Rover biting Artaxerxes's trousers. Artaxerxes is an old grumpy wizard who just happened to be strolling by, and some say it wasn't coincidence. The old wizard become furious with Rover and turns him into a miniature toy puppy. Rover goes through many bizarre complications trying to get back to his original form. The entire journey not only turns out to be a lesson for Artaxerxes and his anger-control, but for Rover as well.
Despite all the wild journeys, the uncanny characters, the abnormal locations, and Rover's involuntary arbitrary movement, I found that the best part of Roverandom was remembering how to be a kid again. Fantasy books tend to do that to me, and this was most definitely one of those enchanted stories. It is the kind that you can curl up with on the couch, and ponder all the strange and magical adventures you've had over the years.

Rating:
Summary: Cute and charming
Review: Roverandom is a flight of fancy written for Tolkien's children over several years as an explanation of what happened to his son's little lost toy dog. It is extremely light and silly, and generally good fun. Little Rover, a real dog turned into a toy, gets into various scrapes, lives with the Man in the Moon (and the Dog in the Moon) for a bit, and meets a whole lot of people with very silly names.

To get a feel for the style, it's really a lot more like the Father Christmas Letters than the Hobbit, and is full of Tolkien's scetches and paintings.

Rating:
Summary: A Sweet Story
Review: Roverandom is a great book no matter what age you are. (It's Tolkien- how bad can it be?!?!?) Lots of adventure and very clever.

Rating:
Summary: Roverandom is short, cute, and fluffy
Review: Roverandom is a sweet little book which would probably be best used as a read-aloud introduction to Tolkien for small children. It is neither profound, nor a masterpiece, but it is fun to read. It is the story of a puppy that is turned into a toy dog by a passing wizard, and his adventures as he tries to get back to real-dog-ness. This edition has extensive endnotes, almost to the point of being silly (they explain a reference to Humpty Dumpty!). But the endnotes are otherwise helpful and entertaining if you are curious about the current event allusions in the text. All in all, it is an entertaining book, and worth sharing with a young friend.

Rating:
Summary: Roverandom - A dog's life
Review: Roverandom takes place once upon a time in England. The main character in this story is Rover (Roverandom). The other main characters are Artaxerxes, Psamathos, the Man-in-the-Moon, the moon-dog Rover, Mew, Two, and the mer-dog Rover.
The conflict was that Rover (Roverandom) was turned into a toy dog by the old magician Artaxerxes, and then sold to a little boy named Two. Rover then runs away hoping to be free but then runs into the wizard Psamathos who sends Roverandom on many journeys and he meets many new friends. But Rover longs to become a real dog again and hopes to find the magician.
My favorite character probably was the Man-in-the-Moon's dog Rover because he kept Roverandom company while on the Moon, even though they argued some. And because it is very unusual for a dog to live on the moon so it makes Rover extra special to me. I think this is a fun little book that all ages would enjoy. Tolkien orginally wrote Roverandom 70 years ago to comfort his 4-year-old son Michael who lost his favorite toy dog on the beach. Tolkien started to write this book after The Hobbit was published, and he stopped to begin writing The Lord of the Rings. So in 1998 Roverandom was finally published. This book would make a great read aloud book for kids and adults of all ages to enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: The Genius of Tolkien...
Review: The genius of Tolkien - that of fantastical and wonderful story-telling - simply cannot be hidden! Even while vacationing with his family, incidents there would provide inspiration for new tales. When his son lost his toy dog on the beach, Tolkien started "Roverandom" as a comfort for his son...and so it became a tale that Tolkien grew, worked & reworked until it became the delightful, full, nostalgic piece that it is today.

The story starts off with a little dog playing with his yellow ball in his owner's backyard. Suddenly, an old man appears, and he and the dog have a misunderstanding. The old man turns out to be a wizzard, and so he turns the dog into a toy. From there, your mind is constantly stimulated as Tolkien brings so many unexpected twists and turns to the story...from the dog's existence as a boy's toy dog to his trip to the moon over the sea to his adventures with the dog on the moon.

As with Tolkien's other works, the presence of wizzards is omnipresent and highly entertaining. He has 3 dominant wizzards with very different personas and responsibilities. Their eccentric, sometimes wise and easily-annoyed temperaments remind one of Gandalf...but these simplistic characters are just shades of that great character. Tolkien also explores such ideas as where we go when we dream and the special access children have to other dimensions but he does this with a light, exploratory tone...not at all with the serious convictions of some of his larger works.

In a similar way as "Farmer Giles of Ham", this wonderful tale helped give me some more insight into Tolkien's phenomenal mind. While Lord of the Rings shows an untold depth to this man, these smaller stories show how he takes delight in comical, ironical, classical tales as well. It seems that he naturally was drawn to worlds in which wizzards, giants, dragons, and pathways to the moon exist...and he had a true talent in relating these worlds to others.

Rating:
Summary: The Genius of Tolkien...
Review: The genius of Tolkien - that of fantastical and wonderful story-telling - simply cannot be hidden! Even while vacationing with his family, incidents there would provide inspiration for new tales. When his son lost his toy dog on the beach, Tolkien started "Roverandom" as a comfort for his son...and so it became a tale that Tolkien grew, worked & reworked until it became the delightful, full, nostalgic piece that it is today.

The story starts off with a little dog playing with his yellow ball in his owner's backyard. Suddenly, an old man appears, and he and the dog have a misunderstanding. The old man turns out to be a wizzard, and so he turns the dog into a toy. From there, your mind is constantly stimulated as Tolkien brings so many unexpected twists and turns to the story...from the dog's existence as a boy's toy dog to his trip to the moon over the sea to his adventures with the dog on the moon.

As with Tolkien's other works, the presence of wizzards is omnipresent and highly entertaining. He has 3 dominant wizzards with very different personas and responsibilities. Their eccentric, sometimes wise and easily-annoyed temperaments remind one of Gandalf...but these simplistic characters are just shades of that great character. Tolkien also explores such ideas as where we go when we dream and the special access children have to other dimensions but he does this with a light, exploratory tone...not at all with the serious convictions of some of his larger works.

In a similar way as "Farmer Giles of Ham", this wonderful tale helped give me some more insight into Tolkien's phenomenal mind. While Lord of the Rings shows an untold depth to this man, these smaller stories show how he takes delight in comical, ironical, classical tales as well. It seems that he naturally was drawn to worlds in which wizzards, giants, dragons, and pathways to the moon exist...and he had a true talent in relating these worlds to others.

Rating:
Summary: Fantasy Like
Review: The roverandom book is like a tale of child hood memories wrapped together with tales of fantasy and folklore to lure the reader in .

Rating:
Summary: Terrific read-aloud book
Review: This book was a delight for my 10-year-old (and me), even after already having read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. A clever, enchanting story with lots of fun and unexpected twists. Our thanks to whoever found this "lost" work.