Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Dodsworth in Paris
Fiction Series
For ages 7 to 9
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008 ISBN: 978-0618980628
Dodsworth and Duck have crossed the Atlantic in a ship and they have finally arrived in Paris. They are both very excited as neither one of them has been to France before. Knowing full well what Duck is capable of, Dodsworth tells his friend that he must not “cause any trouble here.” Duck promises that he will behave himself.
The two friends happily set about being tourists in the City of Lights. They eat in a bistro, change their American dollars for Euros, stay in a hotel where there is a view of the Eiffel Tower, and Duck even tries ringing the bells of Notre Dame Cathedral.
Eager to explore the great city, Dodswoth rents a bicycle and then the two friends pedal over to the Eiffel Tower. The view from the top is magnificent and Dodsworth is so enraptured that he does not pay close attention to what Duck is doing. Inspired by something he heard a lady say, Dosworth takes some paper from Dodsworth’s backpack and he starts to make paper planes. It is so much fun to see how well they fly from such a great height.
When Dodsworth finally looks to see what Duck is going he screams. Duck has been using their Euros to make his paper planes. The friends are in a foreign city and they have almost no money left.
In this second Dodsworth title, Dodsworth and his avian friend have a new set of adventures, this time in France. Though Duck has the best of intentions, he seems to attract trouble and readers will find it hard not to smile when they see what he gets up to this time.
Duck and Dodsworth’s simple get wonderfully engaging story is paired with illustrations that perfectly capture the very different personalities of the two main characters.
