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Home > Categories > Books > Kids - Middle > Elf Dog and Owl Head review
A magical adventure about a boy and his dog - or a dog and her boy - and a forest of wonders hidden in plain sight.
Clay has had his fill of home life. A global plague has brought the world to a screeching halt, and with little to look forward to but a summer of video-calling friends, vying with annoying sisters for the family computer, and tuning out his parents' financial worries, he's only too happy to retreat to the woods. From the moment the elegant little dog with the ornate collar appears like an apparition among the trees, Clay sees something uncanny in her.
With this mysterious Elphinore as guide, he'll glimpse ancient secrets folded all but invisibly into the forest. Each day the dog leads Clay down paths he never knew existed, deeper into the unknown. But they aren't alone in their surreal adventures. There are traps and terrors in the woods, too, and if Clay isn't careful, he might stray off the path and lose his way forever.
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Review by: mizim (Miriam)
Dated: 9th of April, 2023
Clay is a young boy who is stuck at home with his family, due to an unnamed illness spreading around the world (I wonder where the author got that idea...) and is hating it. He misses his friends, he hates having to share the one computer with his sisters and he just hates being stuck at home (like most of us did). Then he finds Elphinore in the woods backing his home and everything changes.
The book gives us an intro to Elphinore who was out hunting with the People Under the Mountain, who she belongs to, when she gets stuck in our realm and ends up being taken home by Clay. Clay, naturally, falls in love with this strange dog and begins to hope her owners are never found. He soon discovers just how strange she is when she is able to direct him through the 'walls' that are between different realms and soon he is meeting giants, people with owl heads and many other creatures.
Whilst this story is full of magic and fantasy, it is, at the crux, a 'boy and his dog' story and the love that grows between them, even while Elphinore is drawn to return to her pack and home (though she is loving the special treatment she is gaining as a humans dog). There is a Wyvern at the start of the story, which does rear its head again, however I expected it to be a bit more of a threat than it was in the end. In the end, this is a fun book that has a really sweet friendship story at the heart of it.
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This book is suitable for children aged 3-7, but older readers will also enjoy its unique graphics and wry humour.
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