Readers who love Andrew Clements, Dan Gutman, Gordon Korman, and Tom Angleberger will find this charming, funny, easy-to-read middle-grade novel from the beloved Patrick Jennings an absolute hoot!
When the new kid joins his class, Woodrow agrees with his schoolmates--Toulouse is really weird. He's short - kindergarten short - dresses in a suit like a grandpa, has huge eyes, and barely says a word. But Woodrow isn't exactly Mr. Popularity. The frequent target of the class bully himself, he figures that maybe all Toulouse needs is a chance.
And when the two are put together in gym to play volleyball, they make quite the team. Toulouse can serve, set, and spike like a pro. He really knows how to fly around the court. But when the attention and teasing switch back to Woodrow, he learns that the new kid is great at something else: being a friend.
Full of heart and laughs, Odd, Weird, and Little is another winner from the author of the state-list favorite, Guinea Dog.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Fun Magical Realism, (Really), for Middle Graders
By Pop Bop
This is a very deeply cool little book, and much more than a school daze comedy. Woodrow is a decent kid - bright, insightful, good hearted and level headed. He is generally acknowledged to be the weirdest kid in his class, (which feels middle schoolish), but mostly just because he's shy and has a few minor obsessions, (like always carrying around duck - don't call it "duct" - tape). That, however, is enough to earn him the attention of the class bullies and the disdain of the girls and the popular kids. But then, a new kid, Toulouse, joins the class. Toulouse is so deeply idiosyncratic and unique, so weird, that Woodrow realizes that Toulouse will be the weird kid and the lightening rod for abuse. The problem is that Woodrow wants a friend, would be a good friend, and finds himself getting close to the otherwise isolated Toulouse. As Woodrow notes, in a classic example of middle school logic, that means that instead of escaping attention Woodrow will just get double attention for befriending Toulouse and being doubly weird. The plot of the book, if you want to call it that, follows Woodrow and Toulouse and their adventures as their friendship grows. But the book is much more than just that.Here's the special part. While Woodrow belongs to the honorable tradition of bright, rueful outsider middle school narrators, Toulouse is an appealing one of a kind character, the likes of which I have never before encountered. He most resembles a middle school version of Chauncey Gardiner, the ethereal, enigmatic center of Jerzy Kosinski's novel "Being There". Toulouse is smart, accomplished, old fashioned and somehow both firmly grounded and surreal. He is, almost literally, odd, weird and little. He is both firmly present and yet also oddly distant and almost otherwordly. As a result parts of this book play out as realistic school humor while other parts feel like a fable, or an elegant feather-light allegory about difference and acceptance.The writing is literate, accomplished, restrained and focused. The author can do raucous classroom humor, subtle deadpan humor, and delicate observational and descriptive passages that would put writers of adult oriented literature to shame.Blurbs for this book mention Andrew Clements, Dan Gutman, Gordon Korman and Tom Angleberger. That's fair in the sense that they are all accomplished in this genre, and "Odd, Weird & Little" is at least equally as accomplished. But it also expands the boundaries by introducing a character like Toulouse and something that approaches middle school magical realism. How's that for an achievement?So, an intriguing change of pace that offers special rewards to adventurous readers. Definitely worth a look.Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Odd, Weird and Little
By Jenny, Wondrous Reads
Odd, Weird & Little is such a lovely book and is one of the best I've read for children. It's the first I've read by author Patrick Jennings and is about a little owl called Toulouse Hulot. Toulouse joins a new school after moving from Quebec, much to the fascination of his classmates. He wears a suit and tie, glasses, carries a briefcase and is one of the cutest book characters I've ever come across.Woodrow is the only person in Toulouse's class who really gives him the time of day, and the two quickly become friends, despite all Toulouse's oddities. Themes of bullying and individuality are both at the forefront of this book, and learning to be happy with yourselfas you are, no matter how strange people might think you are.Odd, Weird & Little is an important book for children of all ages, thanks to its themes and issues explored. It's also one of the cutest books I've read, and that's all down to Toulouse and his small owl body. Aww. I want one of him for myself! Actually, what I want to do is read the book again, so I think I'll go and do that. It's a quick read but such a brilliant one - do check it out if you get a chance!4.5/5
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Cute but a little boring
By Canital
This book is well suited for young readers and is a cute story. It's themed on bullying, but in quite a gentle way. It is from the perspective of a child, which is cute and pure. However, it lacked suspense or tension and there wasn't much depth to the story. It's quite an easy read, and probably good for reluctant readers. However, I think that more avid young readers would find it boring and flat as a story.
