Book Review: Dory Fantasmagory

“Fantasmagory: a dream-like state where real life and imagination are blurred together” – a perfect start to a book that does exactly that – blur the line between reality and imagination and it’s exactly what kids need! Everyone calls Dory “Rascal” – she’s the youngest in her family and her older sister and brother are constantly tell her to leave them alone or yelling to mom that Rascal is bothering them.
Rascal asks a lot of questions and has a great imagination, something that is becoming harder to find in today’s kids who have their noses buried in tablets, cell phones and other forms of technology.  Rascal has an imaginary friend as well as monsters living all over the house (if you know where to look).  Unfortunately, her family isn’t willing to listen when Rascal starts talking about monsters.  Her brother and sister make up a witch who takes the baby of the family, if they don’t learn how to grow up and Rascal’s imagination runs away with the idea, until she finally know exactly how to save herself from the scary witch – by asking the help of her fairy godmother Mr. Nuggy, of course.
What I found interesting, was that although Rascal/Dory prefers to live in Fantasmagory, rather than the real world, she knows and understands that she’s just playing pretend and when it matters most, she knows what she must do.  This is a great early chapter book for young elementary-age students looking to jump into the world of “big-kid” books or as a read aloud for younger children!
Check out Abby Hanlon’s website for more information!
Title: Dory Fantasmagory
Author: Abby Hanlon
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2014
Page Number: 152 pgs.