A charming tale about a dog turned into a toy - Rated 
A charming tale about young dog Rover and his adventures. He bites the trousers of magician Artaxerxes who turns him into a toy dog as punnishment. He shrinks in size as does his bark and he is stuck in a begging position. He is bought by a mother to give to her son Two, but he falls out of his pocket on day on the beach. The sand wizard Psamathos gets super fast seagul Mew to fly him to the moon down the silver pathway it's light leaves to meet the Man-on-the-Moon (another magician) and his moon dog Rover. As the dogs share their name, they change Rover's (the main character) to Roverandom.
On the moon they have many adventures together as Roverandom is given wings to fly about with. They have problems with the fearsome White Dragon who lives on the moon and causes eclipses of the moon as well as sometimes turning it red. Eventually Roverandom is sent back to earth to see Artaxerxes to change him back to his regular dog form. Artaxerxes has married a mer-maiden (one of the mer-kings daughters) and is living under the sea. Whale Uin takes Roverandom under the sea in his belly where he meets another dog called Rover, this time a mer-dog. They have many more adventures under the sea waiting for Artaxeres to find the time to change Roverandom back including an incident with the giant sea-serpent who sleeps not far from the mer-kings castle. Roverandom is eventually changed back into a proper dog and travels home to find Two.
This was a lovely tale based on an incident when Tolkien's second son lost his favourite toy dog at the beach one day on a family holiday. Lots of parallels to The Hobbit can be seen (the dragon, the spiders on the moon and the three magicians have Gandalf like qualities) and I definitely recommend it as a bit of light fun and happy reading.
A Truly Magical Story - Rated 
So wonderful that this exciting book has been re-published. It is one of my most treasured books one that I read time and time again. The illustrations add to the story greatly. A real heart-warming and funny family story to share year after year after year. Highly recommended.
Brilliant! - Rated
This is great little book which I found a pleasant and entertaining read. There is nothing very special about it but the illustrations are nice, if sparse, and the story is good and not too complicated. It is easy to read out loud and shouldn't be too hard for a competent child to read by themselves. The only negative thing about it is that there aren't more stories of the same ilk from Tolkein.
Roverandom - Rated
An absolute ace book. Follows the adventures of Rover, a dog who is turned into a toy by a wizard and can only move by night. 1 of tolkiens first books.
He's a rover - Rated
For a little kid, losing a favorite toy is downright traumatic. So in 1925, when four-year-old Michael lost his little toy dog on the beach, fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien made up a story to comfort his son. It explained away the loss of the toy, and wove a magical story around a little dog named Rover.
Rover is an ordinary little puppy near the seaside in England, until he runs into a grumpy old man and ends up biting off part of his pants. The old man happens to be a wizard (Artaxerxes by name), and promptly transforms Rover into a toy dog (and no, I don't mean a tiny dog -- I mean a real toy). Rover subsequently gets picked up and sold to some little boys (presumably the Tolkien kids).
Fortunately, Rover encounters another magical being, a crusty, kindly sand-wizard named Psamathos. That wizard, in turn, gets Rover (who is renamed Roverandom) flown to the moon, where he spends time with the Man in the Moon and his winged dog Rover. And then he's heading off to encounter a talking whale, a mer-dog, a sea serpent -- and a dragon.
Like the vastly underrated "Farmer Giles of Ham," "Roverandom" is a charming little bit of whimsy. No deep themes, no epic clashes, not even really a villain. The writing is charming and magical, with phrases like "There was a cold wind blowing off the North Star" sprinkled through it. It almost gives the feeling of being in another world. Best of all, in the middle of the book are Tolkien's own illustrations, cute little drawings and ethereal paintings.
Rover is well-named, since his adventures are all over the map and don't really progress from one to the other. It's merely a cute little dog roaming over the moon, the ocean, and the land, conversing with shrimps and bothering wizards. He's an outspoken little guy, but likeable. The grumpy wizards are also excellently done, reminiscent of Gandalf.
While "Roverandom" is a book aimed at children, adults may enjoy the whimsical humor and beautiful writing. A charming and timeless story.
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