Roverandom

J.R.R. Tolkien's earliest children's story.

While on holiday in 1925, four-year-old Michael Tolkien lost his beloved toy dog on the beach. To console him, his father J.R.R. Tolkien improvised a story about Rover, a real dog who is magically transformed into toy, and his quest to find the wizard who can return him to normal.

The adventures of Rover, or 'Roverandom' a he becomes known, include encounters with an ancient sand-sorcerer and a terrible dragon, by the king of wordplay, the story underwent a number of revisions and was originally considered for publication in January 1937, the same year as The Hobbit, was abandoned when the publishers asked instead for a sequel, which culminated in The Lord of the Rings. Roverandom was finally published in 1998.

This edition is edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, whose introduction shows how the story is related to Tolkien's later works The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and his Letters from Father Christmas. It includes all five illustrations by Tolkien himself.

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Publisher: Harper Collins

Released Date: 2013

ISBN: 9780007523283