My 4th grade teacher read this to my class. There are parts I remembered vividly. I remembered Amy’s eyes being lost in the bottle, I remembered Davy Duck - the difficulty of his conversion to being real and his treachery. But other parts, especially in the second half, such as the identity of the Golden Man, were long forgotten.

I tried to read it to my 2nd grader. I thought he’d enjoy a story about a beloved toy coming to life. He didn’t. Truthfully it’s a hard book to read out loud. The sentences are awkwardly constructed. And it’s too complicated/sophisticated/old-fashioned for a kid to read his/herself.

I didn’t love it as much as I hoped. It’s a hard read, and I lost focus at times, skimming more than actually reading. The ending is a little abrupt. But maybe when life is less complicated and I have an uninterrupted block of time, I’ll try reading this again.

EDIT: I think Kennedy's treatment of Skivvy and religion is worth of deep consideration.