From Blue Spruce Award–winning author-illustrator Dave Whamond comes the story of Oddrey, a young girl who is a little bit different from everybody else. Every aspect of Oddrey’s world is a study in playful curiosity. Her adventures and flights of fancy, however, are often a source of some teasing at the hands of her classmates. Her technicolor snow sculpture has the rest of the playground gaping in disbelief. Her drawing of blue apples is met with a stern look from her teacher. But Oddrey, never one to let anything get her down, faces all of these discouragements with optimism and offhanded grace.
So when her class production of The Wizard of Oz is cast and Oddrey is given the rather spiritless role of a tree, she decides to make the best of the situation and vows to be the most unique tree ever. Sadly, her teacher has other ideas, and Oddrey dons an uninspired costume and sways in the back row. But when her classmates start forgetting their lines, knocking down props, and suffering from stage fright, Oddrey steps in to save the show — not by stealing it, but by helping her classmates rise to the occasion, much to their relief and delight. Full of witty, energetic, and vivid illustrations sure to resonate with young readers, Oddrey is an endearing story with a timeless message of how the misfits in our midst can be the ones we most often misjudge.
AWARDS
2x2 Reading List, Texas Library Association, 2012
Best Bets for Children List, Ontario Library Association, 2012
Shining Willow Award, Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice, 2013
NCS Reuben Awards - Book Illustration, 2012
Canadian Children's Book Centre Best Books for Kids and Teens, 2013
Ontario Library Association Blue Spruce Award, 2014
Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Shining Willow Award (shortlisted), 2013
DAVE WHAMOND is the award-winning author of My Think-a-ma-Jink and the Oddrey series a regular contributor to chickaDEE and OWL magazines. He also has a syndicated cartoon strip called “Reality Check,” which appears daily in a number of North American newspapers. He lives in Calgary.