Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com
At first, I really didn't want to read this book, since I don't do animal books or movies. I think watching OLD YELLER as a child did that to me. Most of those books end with the dog (or whatever animal) dying while giving the people around them love and life lessons.
So... when I saw this book on the review list I was amazed to find myself wanting to read it. Now I am so glad that I did!
The story starts with Professor Crastinator, who is a great inventor. Lucy Lucey goes to see the new invention that he is showing. She is a reporter for her school paper. There she meets Ooyay, a small blue dog that talks. She comes to find that Ooyay can not only speak but is also the genius behind the inventions of the Professor. She quickly becomes friends with the dog, and when Ooyay goes missing she helps the Professor to find him.
This story has a lot of humor in it. There is a blind, tartan-wearing cowboy who became a millionaire by selling his toenails on the Internet. There is a village where, at the age of two, the children are put in the middle of a circle and the first words they say are to become their names.
The ways of the world in this book are very interesting and fun. They travel by a hamsterball and by a bullet. But mainly this book is a lot of allegories about living. Change is a major theme. Change happens to all of the characters and sometimes it is scary, but all the time it is necessary. Also, questions can lead to answers that you don't want to have answered. The best lesson is to see the small pleasures in life and to enjoy what you have, because you may never know when you will lose them.
I have my own Ooyay, my little dog, Molly. She has been there since my life changed dramatically nine years ago. If I lost her I would make a giant effort to find her, just like Professor Crastinator.
READ THIS BOOK!! It is a classic which no one should miss!
At first, I really didn't want to read this book, since I don't do animal books or movies. I think watching OLD YELLER as a child did that to me. Most of those books end with the dog (or whatever animal) dying while giving the people around them love and life lessons.
So... when I saw this book on the review list I was amazed to find myself wanting to read it. Now I am so glad that I did!
The story starts with Professor Crastinator, who is a great inventor. Lucy Lucey goes to see the new invention that he is showing. She is a reporter for her school paper. There she meets Ooyay, a small blue dog that talks. She comes to find that Ooyay can not only speak but is also the genius behind the inventions of the Professor. She quickly becomes friends with the dog, and when Ooyay goes missing she helps the Professor to find him.
This story has a lot of humor in it. There is a blind, tartan-wearing cowboy who became a millionaire by selling his toenails on the Internet. There is a village where, at the age of two, the children are put in the middle of a circle and the first words they say are to become their names.
The ways of the world in this book are very interesting and fun. They travel by a hamsterball and by a bullet. But mainly this book is a lot of allegories about living. Change is a major theme. Change happens to all of the characters and sometimes it is scary, but all the time it is necessary. Also, questions can lead to answers that you don't want to have answered. The best lesson is to see the small pleasures in life and to enjoy what you have, because you may never know when you will lose them.
I have my own Ooyay, my little dog, Molly. She has been there since my life changed dramatically nine years ago. If I lost her I would make a giant effort to find her, just like Professor Crastinator.
READ THIS BOOK!! It is a classic which no one should miss!
