And actually, in my humble opinion, the disjointedness, the outline like quality of the text, of the written words, only seems to augment the already exaggerated qualities of Dory's and Rosabelle's imagination (something that might well appeal to the intended audience, to younger children just learning to read, but leaves me both cold and rather unsatisfied and annoyed). For yes, even taking into consideration that Dory and the Real True Friend is a story conceptualised and specifically penned for recently independent readers, Abby Hanlon's text just feels a bit too choppy, jumpy and disjointed for me, with especially the transitions form one episode to the next being far from smooth. I live in Brooklyn, New York with my husband and seven-year-old twins.Although I do appreciate the general concept of Abby Hanlon's Dory and the Real True Friend, have much enjoyed Dory as a character (as a presented person) and truly and majorly both cherish and even treasure her inventiveness and imagination (and especially that she obviously has enough confidence and strength of personality to not only do what her imagination dictates, but to also have no seeming regrets with regard to the same), I also do tend to find both Dory and her new, her in the end real and true best friend Rosabelle more than a trifle overly narrationally overdone (and in particular with regard to how both of them behave and act).īut alongside of my issues with exaggeration and Dory and Annabelle often seemingly deporting themselves way too exaggeratedly, even more of an annoying and frustrating issue for me personally is in fact and indeed Abby Hanlon's featured writing style, in so far that Dory and the Real True Friend often to and for me feels and reads more like a simplified plot outline that an actually finished novel.

As an adult, I discovered that becoming a teacher was a perfect way to re-enter the world of childhood.Īs a teacher, I was amazed by my six-year-old students’ natural ability to use words and pictures to tell a story, and I wanted to do it too. I played imaginatively long past the age considered normal. Source: When I was a kid, I liked to talk to myself and make up stories. I live in Brooklyn, New York with my husband and seven-year-old twins. As a teacher, I was amazed by my six-year-old students’ natural ability to use words and pictures to tell a story, and I wanted to do it too. As an adult, I discovered that becoming a teacher was a perfect way to re-enter the world of childhood. When I was a kid, I liked to talk to myself and make up stories.

Abby hanlon author