Reviews for I, Houdini

The average rating for I, Houdini based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-08-17 00:00:00 Elaine Beal I had this book as a child and was rather fond of it, so when I came across it in the library lately I had to have another read. It's still...yes, almost as good as it was 30 years ago. Okay, now I look at the intemperate behaviour of the Father and consider it iffy, but, well, it's also largely necessary for the plot. The eponymous Houdini is a hamster who makes it his life's work to escape from everything he's confined in. The book starts with him coming home, presumably just old enough to leave his mother, from the pet shop, and escaping almost immediately, as his new humans haven't had the sense to buy a cage for him at the same time. It follows him learning everything from "bring food with you" to "gnawing holes in water pipes is a bad idea". He encounters the Great Outdoors and determines to become a wild hamster - then changes his mind on meeting a cat. Along the way, the author manages to stick in some sly (though simplistic) social commentary. It's a nice book. Houdini is an engaging character, and the author does a good job of describing the worlds he moves through from his not-human point of view.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-01-13 00:00:00 Guido Morales Jr Growing up I loved The Indian In The Cupboard series by Banks. This was a book written, I'm supposing, after she concluded that series - I'm not totally sure. It's about a escapist hamster told from the hamster's perspective. It's an interesting notion and a fair-to-do children's book. I never thought it held its weight against the superior series of The Indian... though and felt it came off rather lackluster, and truthfully, I always thought that hamster was a bit of an ungrateful jerk. However, having owned a number of hamsters growing up I can say that it is a cute little tale. (Still a jerk though.)