Doodlebug 05/11/11

Dodo and Momo are moving to San Francisco with their family. For the ride from Los Angeles, they are each given a blank sketch book. Dodo decides to turn her's into a diary. Doodlebug by Karen Romano Young is Dodo's diary.

What caught my attention first was the plot, namely the move they were making. Having gone through that move myself, though not with children and not as a child, I was hooked. The diary part also got my attention. When I was in high school I briefly kept a doodle diary.

Some of the pages are very crowded with Dodo's artwork. It takes a couple pages to get used to her crowded, conversational style. Younger readers might need extra time to work through all the words crammed onto a page. Older readers though should find the story engaging enough to not mind the busy pages.

It was fun to see San Francisco as rendered in ball point pen doodles. Fans of Smile will recognize many of the same locales. I think the characters even go to the same school at one point.

Best of all though, was its appeal to my children. My son actually borrowed the book from me for about a week to read it himself. My daughter wanted me to read it to her.

Five stars.

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