Thursday, May 7, 2015

Odd Weird & Little by Patrick Jennings




First, suspend your belief for just a little while.  Toulouse is the new kid at school.  Yes, he's odd, weird and little.  He wears black leather gloves, a gray pinstriped suit, tiny, round wire-rimmed glasses and carries a briefcase. Toulouse is from Quebec and Woodrow can't help but become friends with him, even if this is a risky thing.  Weird kid befriending weird kid is the perfect formula for being a perfect bullying target.  They like so many of the same things, unusual things, like fishing lures and Woodrow can't help but stick up for Toulouse even if what Toulouse has done seems suspicious .  What did happen with that gold fish anyway?!

Odd Weird & Little is an anti-bullying book.  The message is subtle with a light touch.  Who hasn't seen teachers with good intentions let a bully get away with far more than he should.  The resolution is a little too neat and tidy, but the story is still fun with a good message.

Maybe you'll be a little quicker than I was and line up the first letters of each word in the title, but suspend your belief for a while and enjoy the story.