The character growth and building was more than I expected for a childrens book, and one of the reasons I think many adults would enjoy this novel. The worldbuilding was shown to the reader in pieces, words, and actions, allowing you to step into it as Billy Jones did, bumbling around with him, putting the clues together, occasionally feeling a little lost, but also gaping at the wonder of rock giants, unicorns, the inside of a whale, and moving through the earth on a magical rock chair.
While the book starts off a little slow, the pace quickly picks up once a frog gets involved. And yes, there are several times where some magical person or being swoops down from on high and saves Billy or one of his friends. Despite these small criticisms, they did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. *Just a little more gushing* There were talking hot dogs! Strange, very strange. But the things they said resulted in snort laughter, which had my man quirking an eyebrow in my direction wondering what was so funny.
While the book starts off a little slow, the pace quickly picks up once a frog gets involved. And yes, there are several times where some magical person or being swoops down from on high and saves Billy or one of his friends. Despite these small criticisms, they did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. *Just a little more gushing* There were talking hot dogs! Strange, very strange. But the things they said resulted in snort laughter, which had my man quirking an eyebrow in my direction wondering what was so funny.
