Roverandom [Turtleback]

J. R. R. Tolkien (Author)

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606165436
• ISBN-13: 978-0606165433
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)

More About the Author

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892.1973), beloved throughout the world as the creator of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in 1959. His chief interest was the linguistic aspects of the early English written tradition, but even as he studied these classics he was creating a set of his own.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite entertaining, February 1, 2001

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roverandom (Hardcover)

In 1925, during a vacation on the Yorkshire coast, J.R.R. Tolkien's four-year-old son Michael lost his favorite toy dog. To console Michael, his father spun out a tale of where the toy dog had come from and where he went. This is that story.

A young dog named Rover is happily playing with his yellow rubber ball when he meets a cross old man. Rover sends the man on his way, tearing his trousers in the process. Sadly for Rover, the old man is Artaxerxes, a powerful wizard from Persia. (When Artaxerxes had become lost and asked for directions, someone had become confused and gave him directions to Pershore!) Artaxerxes turns Rover into a toy dog, and sends him off. This is the start of an epic quest for Rover, who meets a sand-wizard, the Man-in-the-Moon, the great dragons that live on the moon, the many merfolk living at the bottom of the ocean, and a delightful little boy.

This gentle story is quite entertaining. The story is wonderful in a slow, gentle way that seems irreproducible today. It is great for children. Complete with a group of illustrations drawn by the great J.R.R. himself, and some notes at the end to explain certain names and so forth, this is a great buy.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was full of wonder over Roverandom., April 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Roverandom (Hardcover)

What a treat! The unpublished works of favorite authors nearly always disappoint. I pick them up in hopes of experiencing a fresh taste at an old table, only to find kitchen scraps intended for the garbage heap. This was not so with Roverandom. The story is a delight. The word play is delicious, with lots of rhyme, rhythm and rutabagas. Children love words like Persia and Pershore, Psamathos or Roverandom, for that matter, that they can roll around in their mouths like a handful of jelly beans. These remind me of the word play in the Alice books or a marvelous picture book I once read to my nephew about a woman named Euphonia. (I wish I could find it, or at least remember the title.) This is a children's book. However, it does not talk down to children, and it has lots of literary references most nine-year-olds would miss. These can be enjoyed by the older reader with a wink from Tolkien. I am at the awkward age. My children, in High school and collage, are too big or too busy to have children's books read to them. And I do not yet have grandchildren to regale with the wonder of books. When I grow out of this stage, Roverandom will certainly be on my list. Until then it makes splendid reading for a Summer afternoon.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ode to a lost toy, February 11, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roverandom (Paperback)

For a little kid, losing a favorite toy is downright traumatic. So in 1925, when four-year-old Michael lost his little toy dog on the beach, fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien made up a story to comfort his son. It explained away the loss of the toy, and wove a magical story around a little dog named Rover.

Rover is an ordinary little puppy near the seaside in England, until he runs into a grumpy old man and ends up biting off part of his pants. The old man happens to be a wizard (Artaxerxes by name), and promptly transforms Rover into a toy dog (and no, I don't mean a tiny dog -- I mean a real toy). Rover subsequently gets picked up and sold to some little boys (presumably the Tolkien kids).

Fortunately, Rover encounters another magical being, a crusty, kindly sand-wizard named Psamathos. That wizard, in turn, gets Rover (who is renamed Roverandom) flown to the moon, where he spends time with the Man in the Moon and his winged dog Rover. And then he's heading off to encounter a talking whale, a mer-dog, a sea serpent -- and a dragon.

Like the vastly underrated "Farmer Giles of Ham," "Roverandom" is a charming little bit of whimsy. No deep themes, no epic clashes, not even really a villain. The writing is charming and magical, with phrases like "There was a cold wind blowing off the North Star" sprinkled through it. It almost gives the feeling of being in another world. Best of all, in the middle of the book are Tolkien's own illustrations, cute little drawings and ethereal paintings.

Rover is well-named, since his adventures are all over the map and don't really progress from one to the other. It's merely a cute little dog roaming over the moon, the ocean, and the land, conversing with shrimps and bothering wizards. He's an outspoken little guy, but likeable. The grumpy wizards are also excellently done, reminiscent of Gandalf.

While "Roverandom" is a book aimed at children, adults may enjoy the whimsical humor and beautiful writing. A charming and timeless story.