Unlike Woodrow, Toulouse seems to excel at everything he does, but this doesn't stop the other children from making fun of him. He is short, doesn't speak much and writes with a quill, not to mention he's the prime suspect when one of the class goldfish disappears. In the process of defending his only friend, Woodrow learns to stand up for himself as well.
I got the opportunity to read this book through NetGalley. I really enjoyed it and I think my 7 year old will too.
The only negative things I have to say about it is that Toulouse's secret isn't difficult to figure out. That being said, I'm not sure it was supposed to be. Also the story seemed too short, while the ending wasn't bad, it left me wanting to read more about the odd duo.
While Toulouse's secret isn't very hard to guess, (just read the table of contents) it doesn't take away from the story at all. Odd Weird & Little does a great job of showing kids that being a little weird is perfectly okay. I also liked that bullying was a big part of the story.
"I scowl at him. One of the rules at school - the kid rules, that is - is that kids don't tell on other kids. If a kid does something against the adult rules, even if it's a kid you don't like, even if what he did is really bad, or even evil, it's against the rules to tell the adults. The adults have to find out stuff on their own."
Most children do live by the "kid rules" and never tell anyone when they or someone else is being picked on. In the book, Woodrow goes from following those rules, to standing up for his friend, and though at first they are afraid to, eventually the other kids join in. This is more than just a book about a peculiar boy, it's a story about bravery and doing what is right.
For those interested, Odd Weird & Little is due to be released on 01.28.14
No comments:
Post a Comment