Roverandom - JRR Tolkien

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⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

I've been super into short stories, especially fantasy shorts, and so finally it was time to learn from the master. Honestly, I always kinda just forget that he put these out. I have a collection of them, but I want to review them separately because a) it makes my reading list look more impressive and b) because they vary so much in tone and target audience that it really makes little sense to review them together. Also you can get them all separately so there!

This one, like many of his writings, was written to his kids. He loved writing childrens' tales, and this one is for an especially young audience. It's about a dog that gets turned into a toy by a mean wizard and has all these adventures in an attempt to get his true form back (written for his son who lost his toy dog - how cute).

There is a ton for adults to love here. Tolkien is legitimately so funny, which I think often gets lost when people talk about him. I also adore the fact that the guy who wrote the battle of Pelenor Fields wrote a story of a dog who was cursed because he said "'Give me back my ball' without ever a 'please.'" This story is full of clever and winsome turns of phrase and light little adventures that I imagine took the early 20th century child's mind for a ride. It is funny and absurd and I love it.

Tolkien is the master, in case we all forgot, and I'm looking forward to going through the rest. I might recommend this one to parents to read along with kids, though I legitimately have no idea if kids these days would enjoy these stories or even be able to follow along.

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