Monday, May 12, 2014

Review: Oddfellow's Orphanage - Emily Winfield Martin

Oddfellow's Orphanage by Emily Winfield Martin
Genre: whimsy
Published on January 24, 2012
Published by Random House
Pages: 144
Read From: 5.3.14 - 5.3.14











SYNOPSIS
What do an onion-headed boy, a child-sized hedgehog, and a tattooed girl have in common? They all live at Oddfellow's Orphanage! 
Discover the magical, marvelous world of Oddfellow's through the eyes of its newest orphan, Delia. From the unusual students to classes in Cryptozoology and Fairy Tale Studies, from Haircut Day to a sea-monster-sighting field trip, nothing at Oddfellow's is ordinary. . . .except when it comes to friendships. In that, Oddfellow's is like any other school, where children discover what they mean to each other while learning how big and astonishing the world really is. 
In her debut novel, popular Etsy artist Emily Winfield Martin brings a strange place to life with her unique style of illustration and writing. With artwork gracing every spread, this book is truly a delight to read - or to read aloud.

Review

What to say about Oddfellow's Orphanage? It's awesome! If I had ever been an orphan, this is the orphanage that I would want to have gone to. Filled with strange characters, small nods to fairy tales and kid's classics, and gorgeously illustrated, this is a short little novel that should be added to anyone's collection of kid's stories. Each chapter begins with a short little description of one of the character's background stories, so as you progress through the book, you learn about everyone's pasts and how they came to be at Oddfellow's Orphanage. Readers follow the students in their lives at Oddfellow's, and each day always presents something new. We get to read about the three dancing bears, accompany the kids on a field trip to spot a sea monster, and we get to see what a picnic at Oddfellow's is like on a hot summer day. To end these short and fun little escapades, the story ties up on Christmas.

"Odd" is definitely the right word to describe this book. There's a kid with an onion for a head, after all, and an orphan hedgehog who eats all sorts of things that my own hedgehog would love to eat, but can't. In short, this is just a charming little book - very odd, but very fun. It's perfect for a read aloud night with your family, and the charming illustrations done by the Author herself will delight anyone. 

2 comments:

  1. This one sounds like such a fun quirky read for kids, I wish my niece and nephew ere small enough for me to read this to them but alas they decided to become teenagers on me. Still I might read it myself.
    -Kimberly @ Turning the Pages

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you like collection kids' books regardless of whether or not there's kids in your life, this is a must for that collection. :)

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