Tim Egan (1)

Longing for adventure and determined to see the world, Dodsworth sets out on a train journey to New York, from their to sail to Paris. First, however, he enjoys a delicious pancake breakfast at Hodges' Cafe, enduring the antics of Hodges' duck, who likes to throw food at the customer. Unbeknownst to Dodsworth, the duck has stowed away in his luggage, and he spends some time chasing after him, once in New York City. Will Dodsworth ever catch up with that duck, and send him back home, or will show more his anatine adversary lead him on a merry dance across the sea...?

I enjoyed this first entry in Tim Egan's series of early-readers following the mouse-like Dodsworth on his travels to various world cities. As my friend Emily, whose recommendation prompted me to track this down, has noted in her own review, there is a quirky quality here that is very entertaining. Children will identify with Dodsowrth's frustration at the duck, while enjoying the duck's rebellious go-his-own-road attitude at the same time. The artwork is charming, and readers will enjoy seeing all of the places the duck gets to, in his flight from Dodsworth. Recommended to anyone looking for fun early readers! show less

Wise, humorous, delightful. The pink refrigerator in the junkyard encourages Dodsworth, who likes to do as little as possible, to make pictures, read more, play music, learn to cook, plant a garden, and finally, keep exploring. Though I read, cook, and have a (small) garden, I still want to learn to play the pennywhistle and keep exploring. Everybody needs a pink refrigerator!

Interestingly, this is much heavier on the theme and lighter on the absurdity than most of Egan's works. Which could be a bad thing. But the idea that Sammy needed the moral support of Jackson just socked me right in the heart. Bravo, Tim Egan! I hope children like this, too.

Very much in the vein of the superb [b:Hey, Al|526077|Hey, Al|Arthur Yorinks|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1586096083l/526077._SX50_.jpg|513903]; in fact it seemed to be by the same creators trying to cash in. But I won't quite go as far as accusing Egan of plagiarism; this has a special spin. If you liked or loved that, I do recommend you try to find this. If you like explorations of the Three Wishes trope, this is a fab fractured riff on it. Very show more funny, but also sweet & resonant and worth a reread. show less