| Roverandom | |
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Written by J. R. R. Tolkien
Roverandom was originally written by Tolkien as the sequel to The Hobbit. It was not the story his editors had hoped for; originally inspired by his son Christopher, Roverandom did not have the same drama or universe which had made The Hobbit so beloved. Tolkien went on to write the Lord of the Rings, and this delightful book was left to fade into the background of his works.
Most people who happen to walk past your garden are normal, harmless people just walking by. A farmer, a grocer... but every once in a while, that stranger walking by just might be a wizard on vacation. Rover, a young puppy, has never met a wizard on vacation before. So when one does happen to walk by his garden and pick up the rubber ball he was playing with, Rover is decidedly rude to the wizard: no wizard likes to be bitten, especially when they were planning on giving a surprise gift. Enraged, the wizard decides to teach Rover a lesson: Rover is transformed into a porcelain figurine of a dog. He can only move if no one is looking. The wizard deposits Rover at a local figurine shop, where the pup sits in the window every day, frozen in place. One day, a young boy comes into the shop. He persuades his mother to buy Rover, and spends a few happy weeks with his new imaginary companion.
One day, on the beach, Rover gets left behind; he doesn't know how to find his boy again. Thus begins a grand adventure, leading Rover everywhere from a few happy months in the house of the Man in the Moon, playing with a moon dog also named Rover, to fighting a dragon under the sea. Named Roverandom by the Man in the Moon, this young pup has goes through many different worlds, all the while trying to get back to the young boy who he spent those happy weeks with.