Roverandom by J.R.R. TolkienMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a story J.R.R. Tolkien originally invented for his middle son to explain the disappearance of a toy dog the boy lost at the beach. In that way it reminds me of Winnie-the-Pooh, where the author's son takes part in the story. I enjoyed reading the foreword and footnotes almost as much as reading the story itself. Tolkien gave this story to his publishers as a follow up to The Hobbit, and they rejected it and asked for more stories about hobbits, leading to The Lord of the Rings. I love The Lord of the Rings, but my favorite was always The Hobbit because it was so much easier to read, being much more of a children's story. I love the tone of The Hobbit and Roverandom, as if the author is writing directly to children but without talking down to them. Some of the words used are well beyond my vocabulary but it doesn't make the reading more tedious at all. It's a quick read and a very cute story.
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