THE LAST OF THE REALLY GREAT WHANGDOODLES

by Julie Edwards ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1974

Julie (Andrews) Edwards' Whangdoodleland is a fanciful candyland Oz visited by the three earnestly British Potter children and their guide, Professor Savant, a Nobel-prizewinning geneticist who is ""the nicest person in the whole world next to Mummy and Daddy"" and who seeks nothing in life but to view the great Whangdoodle, a sort of mythological antlered horse who grows his own slippers, a different style each year. (""That's fantastic,"" comments Lindy, the youngest, and the captivated Professor answers ""It is, isn't it."") It takes some sensory training and imagination-stretching exercises (especially for Ben, the oldest at thirteen) before the children are ready to go to Whangdoodleland, and once there they must contend with the Sidewinders, Flukes and the High Behind Splintercat employed by menacing prime minster Prock to keep them from their goal. But with the Whiffle Bird's help they at last reach the castle where Lindy's tears turn the Prock's heart around and her childlike faith guides the Professor across an invisible (to him) bridge to the presence of the Great Whangdoodle, who soon is not the Last and Only because the whole experience has inspired the Professor to create for him a demure and loving lady Whangdoodle. Unfortunately meeting the creature only confirms our opinion that this is a damn silly quest for a Nobel prizewinner, and the whimsical didacticism of his approach (he's forever spouting mindless minilectures on DNA, the wonders of flowers, the sounds of words or why homing pigeons home) makes him seem an unlikely candidate for even the frivolous breakthrough he does manage.

Pub Date: May 1, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1974

Categories: FICTION