Ollie's Odyssey

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Many children's books have been written about the secret life of toys, but Joyce's storytelling and original characters elevate this novel. It was made of various kinds of deliciously comfortable fabric, which she had chosen with great care. The narrative isprinted on artificially age-stained paper and punctuated with largeillustrations--of toys loved to shabbiness and genuinely sinisteradversaries--that add golden-toned atmosphere to the "huge a-venture. Joyce (the Guardians of Childhood series) delivers a delicious remix of classic movie and storybook themes: imprisoned toys, talking junkyard friends, and a doll lost a generation ago. Joyce (The Numberlys) dispenses with the scarier parts of Jack and the Beanstalk (no “Fee fi fo fum” here), stringing old and new elements together with chatty narration and dialogue.

Joyce's beautiful color illustrations put the sweetness of Billy andOllie's relationship and the creepiness of Zozo's underworld on full display. It looked like a teddy bear, but for reasons that Billy’s mother could not explain, she had also given it long ears that were vaguely rabbit-like.

On October 6, 2020, Netflix director Teddy Biaselli revealed that Lost Ollie had been picked up by the streaming platform, mentioning that the series had been in the works since 2016. It's where he meets multiple other living objects who seem to just sit around reminiscing about when they were useful. The too-sweet language of this bedtime rhyme is belied by Joyce's dark and atmospheric illustrations.

Though tense moments abound in this all-boy adventure, it's always clear that Billy and Ollie will prevail. On this occasion, saying goodbye to their new friends was a different kind of sadness and he didn’t feel it would be appropriate to make a joke. Una narración que habla de la familia, del amor, la lealtad, la humildad, la amistad, de nunca abandonar a los amigos y ayudar siempre a los menos afortunados, una historia que trata de Ollie, que es el "prefe" de Billy, y Billy es el niño de Ollie, y juntos van a tener una gran "ventura" inolvidable en donde demostrarán que son inseparables.

But there were no words that could describe or give comfort to the deep unease and desperation they now felt. Loading hislatest plushy epic with precious observations--"In the realm of toys beingfavorited was a special distinction. When Ollie is toy-napped, Billy must rescue his beloved favorite from Zozo’s subterranean lair in the old Carnival Place, past the park, through the woods, and into the night. The writing was in the POV of either Billy or Ollie, and I thought it was well done by William Joyce.

The themes of love, loyalty, bravery, and remembering were inspiring, especially because of the age of the characters. From the creator of George Shrinks and illustrator of other books comes a campy extravaganza about the savvy Lazardo family, which, while on vacation in Africa, acquires a dinosaur.

One day, six-year-old Billy's forced to go to a wedding and brings Ollie with him, where Ollie is stolen by an evil toy clown named Zozo who wants to rid every child of their favorite toys.