Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Dodsworth in London
Fiction Series
For ages 7 to 9
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009 ISBN: 978-0547414409
Dodsworth and his friend the duck have traveled from Paris to London in a hot air balloon. They see Buckingham Palace from the air and Dodsworth explains that they cannot stay there because it is a palace and “not a motel.”
The first thing that the friends decide to do, when they finally land in Trafalgar Square, is to get something to eat. They find a traditional London pub near Piccadilly Circus and when they go inside they see people eating, playing cards, and throwing darts. Even though Dodsworth makes it clear that the duck should not even consider playing darts, the duck manages to get hold of a dart and he throws it, causing a situation that requires that they leave the pub in a timely manner.
Dodsworth is very annoyed with his avian friend. After all, they have only just arrived and the duck has already managed to get into trouble. Then the friends see a double-decker bus and Dodsworth decides that traveling on the bus would be the prefect thing to do. They can see London and he will be able to “keep an eye” on duck at the same time.
At the bus station the duck sees a duck that looks exactly like him, except that it is wearing a very fancy hat with a feather. Dodsworth tells the duck that they should wait for the next bus, but the duck does not hear him. He gets on the bus that is already there. Dodsworth then gets on the next bus and the other duck (the one with the fancy hat) gets on it too. Dodsworth talks to this duck thinking it is his duck. Finally the duck is able to explain that it is the Royal Duck and that it belongs to the queen. Dodsworth is appalled. His duck is lost in London, and he is all on his own. Who knows what kind of trouble he will get into.
In this third Dodsworth book, Dodsworth and his sometimes rather trying friend visit London where, as per usual, the duck manages to find trouble. Children will love to see how the two ducks in the story get mixed up and will be delighted when they see how the adventure ends.
