When I found out Norton Juster, author, and Jules Pfeiffer, illustrator, were back together again for a new children's book, I was thrilled. Their masterly collaboration, 1961's The Phantom Tollbooth, has stayed with me for years, and I recommend it to everyone I know who either knows the secret of looking at the world with magic, or needs to learn it.

49 years after The Phantom Tollbooth, Juster & Pfeiffer's The Odious Ogre brings Juster's mastery of descriptive English and Pfeiffer's lyrical, energized illustrations to a slightly younger crowd -- the book is recommended for ages 4 to 8 to Tollbooth's 9 to 12, but would be a fun read-aloud book for parents and younger, pre-school aged children. There are a lot of active, descriptive words that can be acted out. The short story focuses on an odious ogre terrifying the countryside and the nice forest maiden whom he meets one day. I feel personally that the story is too short and too simple, given that I know what Juster is capable of in his prose, but I must stay aware that this story is meant for very very young children, and in that light is fun and pitch-perfect. It is charmant, but it will always be an age-appropriate introduction to Tollbooth, which I still consider the best example of YA literature in the 20th century. ( )

An odious ogre, widely believed to be "extraordinarily large, exceedingly ugly, constantly hungry, and absolutely merciless," terrorizes the countryside and finds that his depredations are made all too easy by his terrible reputation, and the fear and apathy this inspires in the local population. Then the ogre comes upon a polite, kindhearted young girl who has never heard of him, and who treats him courteously. He can hardly process this state of affairs, becomes paranoid, convinced that there must be a hidden trap somewhere, and eventually dies from the shock of it all...

Author Norton Juster and illustrator Jules Feiffer, perhaps best known for their work on the classic children's novel, The Phantom Tollbooth (which is one of my own all-time favorite books!), join forces here again to create an amusing, thought-provoking original fairy-tale exploring such themes as fear, reputation, and the idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy. I enjoyed the story, found the writing itself accomplished and appealing (no surprises there), and thought the artwork was well-suited to the text. I also appreciated the idea, highlighted in the latter half of the story, that we often give our enemies more power than they really have, in our imaginations, and that we can sometimes defeat our troubles, by keeping a positive outlook. All in all, an entertaining tale, one I would recommend to children who enjoys stories of ogres and other monsters, especially ones with surprising and humorous endings. ( )

i love norton juster. i love jules feiffer. i didn't love this collabo. it's okay, but doesn't really break any new ground. a little disappointing. ( )

Loved this! ( )

Hilarious. As expected. ( )