I like Julie Andrews, I really do. And, admittedly, she started writing (as Julie Andrews Edwards) eons before many other celebrity writers (like Billy Crystal, Madonna, John Travolta, John Lithgow, etc.). So I really had high hopes for the Whangdoodles book. The title sounded funny, it’s been around for 25 years, it had to be good, right?
Well, no. I found it annoying at first and while it got slightly more interesting as it progressed, I think it tried to hard to be cute. I hated that everything had to be explained. Billy, Tom and Lindy did something, and then the professor had to make sure a moral was gotten out of it. Sigh. Morals about turning the other cheek, listening to what people mean and not just what they say, about genetics, about being lonely. Couldn’t we just have a straightforward story here?
The Phantom Tollbooth plays with words better, the Chronicles of Narnia deals with morals with a less heavy hand. There really are better books out there. However, I did ask my 8-year-old to read it, just in case I’m much too adult to appreciate it. Maybe kids really do enjoy it and I just missed the boat on this one.
The Book Nut 
…”Whangdoodles”? I thought I owned the patent on crazy phrases/titles… Great review, by the way. Even though I more than likely would never come across these books, I know now to stay away.
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Whangdoodles been one of my favorite stories since I read it many years ago. Maybe it helped that I first read it as a child. It is heavy on morals, but I didn’t feel like it ruined the story. At least it’s a quick read and you didn’t waste too much time on it. 🙂
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It probably did help that you read it first as a child. Megan’s really enjoying it. And it’s not that I thought the morals ruined the story; I just thought they got in the way of the story. Just like Orson Scott Card’s philosophizing often gets in the way of his stories. Still, Julie Andrews is a better author than many celebrities. I think I might give <> Mandy<> a try sometime.
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I like <>Mandy<> a lot. Of course, I read it first as a child too. 🙂 My mother read it out loud to us the first time.
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I would recommend <>Mandy<>, too, of course, I liked <>Wangdoodles<>, but that my two cents….
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I love it! I don’t pretend to be objective, but I want to put my perspective out into the void. I also read it as a child and have since re-read it several times, including out-loud to my husband on car trips.I enjoy the personalities of the characters more than anything else. I’m a fairly forgiving reader when it comes to moralizing and philosophizing. I think that comes from my own tendancy to take mental side trips.
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I first read this (and re-read it repeatedly) as a child and loved it. It was a great escape from a not terribly happy household. So much so that I have tracked it down and bought the new edition and I am reading it to my 7 year old as an evening treat to share. She is loving it, and, though I doubt if I would enjoy it nearly so much without her sense of wonder, I am enjoying the characters and Whangdoodleland like old friends. Its definately only one for the kids, it may be laboured with the morals but kids these days need all the moral fibre they can digest!!!!
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I read the last of the really great whangdoodles in the fourth grade and I fell in love with it of course I’m still a kid and LIVE on fantasy, but I think what got me was the whiffle bird any way I liked the book and so did my brother
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Theres a new addition…WHERE!
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did I say addition I meant edition
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First time I’ve read this book was in fourth grade too. Unfortunatly, I lost just about all my memory about it; except for the fact that it was really great and, for some reason, involved slippers. Happily enough, I found it again; and I am heading to the library as soon as possible to get a copy. I am planning on reading it to my little sister; and I really hope she enjoys it!
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I read this book as a child and I LOVED IT! It was one of the first large books I ever read. I have not, however, read it since elementary school. I think I might need to relook at it to be unbiased on his topic.
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I have loved this book for forever! Prock was always just the right mix of sinister and the whangdoodle was so funnily ditzy. I loved Aesops fables, and Greek myths as a kid and if anything moralizes those do so maybe I was used to the moralizing…hmmm…anyway, just my own 5 cents (inflation you know, everything costs more these days)
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Have you ever tried any Eva Ibbotson? Or Her stuff is fantastic and funny and is great for adults and kids…At least I’m supposedly a grown up and I love them.Also Dianna Wynne Jones (I adore Howl’s Moving Castle…and the rest of them…so much to read, happy sigh)
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In fifth grade my teacher, Mr. Wallin, would read a book for an hour every day. Several books were read, though I don't recall the names of any of them but this at this point. It was an excellent story, to my young mind. I loved the fact that the aspect of the children that allowed them to experience this incredible world was their imagination. I don't truly remember the majority of the story, but it has stuck with me for many years. I'm hoping to find a download for it, and to read it again. It may not be that popular with the readers of this blog, but I can't wait to return to the magic of Whangdoodleland. Or whatever it's called.
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The Whangdoodle is (I am fairly certain) in reference to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. As I recall it was one of the beasts that drove the Oompa Loompas into the trees before Wonka came and hired them all to work at his factory.
I remember reading this book in elementary school because I had just read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I recognized the word on one of their old, rebound books. You know, the ones where the binding had been lost so they replaced it with a plain cover.
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