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    Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages
    Unavailable
    Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages
    Unavailable
    Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages
    Ebook275 pages3 hours

    Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages

    By Dean Koontz, Phil Parks and Christopher Zavisa

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The #1 New York Times–bestselling author’s visually stunning story about a magical band of living toys who learn to overcome their fears. Toymaker Isaac Bodkins created the Oddkins, a group of living toys, for very special children who face difficulties in life and need true friends. There’s Amos, the brave stuffed bear; Skippy, the rabbit who dreams of being a superstar; Butterscotch, the gentle, floppy-eared pup; Burl the elephant; the wise and scholarly Gibbons; and Patch the cat. The Oddkins are given to children to inspire, support, and love them, especially during times of adversity. Only now, the toys themselves are the ones who need help. Before he dies, Mr. Bodkins delivers a dire warning to Amos the bear: Watch out for an evil toymaker and his dangerous creations! Locked up in the dark sub-basement, another group of toys is climbing out of boxes and crates and coming to life as well. These bad toys—like Rex and Lizzie, the puppets with no strings; Gear, the vicious robot; and Stinger, the horrid buzzing bumblebee with his knife-sharp stinger—were made to hurt children, not help them. Leering, laughing, and deadly, they are let loose into the world by a terrifying force. Frightening as it may be, the Oddkins must go on a journey to find Colleen Shannon, Mr. Bodkins’s chosen successor as a life-giving toymaker and the only person who can save them. The stormy night is perilous and the Oddkins face a danger that threatens not only their magic . . . but the magic in us all.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMel Parker Books
    Release dateSep 4, 2012
    ISBN9781453265901
    Unavailable
    Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages
    Author

    Dean Koontz

    Dean Koontz is the author of more than a dozen New York Times No. 1 bestsellers. His books have sold over 450 million copies worldwide, and his work is published in 38 languages. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania and lives with his wife Gerda and their dog Anna in southern California.

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    Reviews for Oddkins

    4.5/5

    70 ratings9 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Uncle Issac, the magic toymaker, has died. Now it's a race between the Oddkins and the Charon Toys to get the new toymaker installed. A race between good and evil.Vivid descriptions fill the pages while not being too graphic or complicated so that younger readers may also enjoy the tale.Kind-hearted good guys to malicious bad guys make it easy to figure out which side characters are on. Without giving too much plot away, I will just say this:Overall, an enchanting read.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! The story was extremely well-written (although I would expect nothing less from Dean Koontz). The story was engaging and almost cute at the same time. I just loved it.
    • 3/5
      While I enjoyed this book, I found some of the character descriptions a bit intense for the young reader audience. I think the fable has some great lessons to it including: The importance of a child's imagination, the power of friendship, and the power of good over evil. This would be appropriate for a bit of an older child but some of the younger ones may be frightened.
    • 4/5
      When you think of children's authors, you might think Rowling, Lewis, Seuss. But Dean Koontz? Definitely does not spring to mind. Yet, he did write a children's book and, you know what, it's pretty darn good. The Oddkins would best be described as a classic battle between good and evil. A good toy maker has been making toys, the oddkins, magical toys which come alive for children just when they need them. However, the toy maker is dying without having contacted his successor. If she is not contacted quickly the toy shop will be taken over by an evil toy maker who will only make toys to hurt children. So begins an epic journey by a small but stalwart band of intrepid oddkins to go to the city and find the woman meant to take over the shop. Pursuing them is a group of evil toys who will do anything to stop this from happening.Oddkins is a fun read with all the components of a Dean Koontz novel except, thank goodness, the schmaltzy romance. The Manichean battle between good and evil, the dangerous journey through that dark and stormy night and, of course, the happy ending. Along the way, there are lots of adventures, close calls, and, in the case of the oddkins, some really bad but somehow endearing poetry. The good characters are very, very good and the bad one, well, they're pure evil.However, what makes this book a real standout are the marvelous multi-coloured and vibrant illustrations by Phil Parks. Not only are they very easy on the eyes, they really complement the story, adding a dimension which would be lacking without them.The Oddkins will likely appeal to small children more than to adults. Although a good moral is the whole point of a fable, at time, all the platitudes and moral preaching get in the way of the story. Still, put that aside and concentrate on the adventure (and especially the illustrations), and you've got a terrific story to read to your children when the monster under the bed comes a-calling and they need to believe that good always trumps evil.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely delightful and decidedly Christian tale about good vs evil and life after death. Knowing Koontz is Catholic I wasn't surprised at the open Christianity of this story but I was surprised to find such a story coming from a mainstream publisher (Warner, originally). A brilliant, beautiful story that I would read more than once. Not sure on the age group here though. For under tens: if the child is confident that "He can do all things" then they should be fine knowing that the evil will be conquered by those following God. However, if they have any fear that evil can win over God then the book will be too scary for them. This is Koontz after all! The illustrations are charming and I found that they actually took the scary factor down a notch, making the characters not quite so scary looking as I would have imagined them in my head. Really a fantastic story, just loved it!
    • 5/5
      This is a book to own for the illustration - not that the fable is unworthy of reading; it's not too dark for the kids, but perhaps a little too predictable for fully engaged adult enjoyment - but it would lack both credibility and what marginal menace is has without the support of the richly coloured pictures. This is one of a very few books about which I can say I enjoy owning and looking at it more than I enjoyed reading it.
    • 5/5
      A fast and optimistic read. The depth of care and hope in this book is encouraging and it doesn't read like a YA or children's book. There is something both pleasant and peaceful and extremely imaginative about The Oddkins and Koontz has written yet another awesome book! :)
    • 4/5
      Oddkins: A Fable For All Agesby Dean Koontz Illustrated by Phil Parks 1988Mel Parker Books 3.9 / 5.0This was a quick, fun read, and like most fables, it has a message : when you run away from something it becomes more dangerous than if you stood up to them. A Good vs. Evil tale of a toyshop run by kind Mr. Bodkin. He made toys that made kids feel magical, comforted and loved. But the toys magic had to be kept secret and they had to pretend they were not alive.When Mr. Bodkins suddenly passes, the toys take off on a journey to find another kind toymaker to take his place in the shop, before the previous owner, who make toys that would torture and scare kids, returned. When Mr. Bodkin took over the shop, he put the evil toys in cares in the basement. They have been waiting for this moment, and break out of the crates, intending to kill off the good toys before they can find a new shopkeeper. This is a Good toys (the Leben Toys) vs the Evil Toys (the Charon Toys), a fable for adults or children. I thought the illustrations were really nice, and the lesson learned here was so well presented. I totally enjoyed this.
    • 5/5
      Oddkins are toys made with just a little bit of magic who one day will be "put on display in a toy shop and sold as a gift for a very special child who'll desperately need a secret friend." A new magic toymaker must be chosen when the current one falls ill or gets too old to carry on, but in this case, the toymaker dies unexpectedly without having passed the torch, so it's up to his toys to travel on their own across town and find her themselves. Unfortunately, there is a basement full of evil toys who will be able to take over if they can prevent the Oddkins from fulfilling this mission.I love Dean Koontz and had such a good time reading this book! It's like horror-lite for the younger crowd - scary enough to give them chills, without keeping them up all night. The book also had some really cool illustrations to help you picture both groups of toys, which I loved. In summary, I highly recommend this book to any budding horror lovers out there.5/5 stars.I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.