Author Jeff Howe Reviews “An Adventure in Yore for Bedtime Reading”
The Hylidae Ex Machina lives!, November 3, 2007
By Jeff Howe (Maine United States) - See all my reviews
Some of my favorite childrens’ stories revolve around a character called Hank the Cow Dog by John Erickson. They are based on a ranch in Texas, and, though there are human characters in most of the stories, they are predominantly populated and acted out by animals on the ranch and nearby wild animals.
As I was reading J. Lyon Laydon’s An Adventure in Yore for Bedtime Reading, I was mentally trying to compare and correlate it to similarly-themed stories. I considered The Chronicles of Narnia and realized they didn’t quite match up. I thought about Lewis Carroll’s work, and that wasn’t exactly it either. The Wind in the Willows came to mind, but I just couldn’t make the connection.
Then towards the end of Adventure in Yore, as the tree frogs sang, it hit me. This story has a very similar footing to the Hank the Cow Dog series. Laydon has struck a very viable chord in children’s fiction with this short. He runs ahead with activity and then pulls back for night time relaxation. It’s a marvelous piece of writing that, to be honest, I didn’t think I would care much for. However, I found out differently.
From Terramore to Mudgunkland to the Domain of Felvin and back to Bogland, Laydon has created a legendarium totally suited to the reading imaginations of little folks - probably between ages 4 and 7, if I had to guess.
This is a fun story to get into, it has poetic value in much of its prose. And it imparts a dreamy quality to its overall presentation. I recommend this story highly.