Author(s): Margaret Atwood

Children & Young Adult

"Bashful Bob and Doleful Dorinda" is a boisterous and delightful dissertation on discovering the uncharted depths of one's own personality. Abandoned by his bubble-headed mum and raised by a bunch of dogs, Bob is understandably bashful around humans. Deprived of her parents while still in diapers, Dorinda endures a dreadful existence with distant relatives. On a dark and drizzly December day, Dorinda and Bob meet on a vacant block strewn with bushes, buttercups and benches. They become fast friends. One day, a bewildered buffalo bounds over a barrier at a nearby Botanical Garden. Amid billows of dust and the beeping and blaring of horns, Bob and Dorinda band together to save the day. Relying on their wits - and the useful deployment of Bob's dog buddies and Dorinda's distracting dust mops - the dynamic duo restore order and emerge from the episode victorious. No longer bashful and doleful, Bob and Dorinda discover that they can be brave and daring.