Clever-Lazy, the girl who invented herself

by Joan Bodger

A fledgling inventor concentrates so hard on developing her genius, she almost forgets the teachings of the Goddess in the Dancing Mountains.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens

201 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a whole new appreciation for this book as an adult reading aloud to my 4-year old. Plus, I know a little bit more about Joan Bodger and her work establishing HeadStart-like programs in the 70s. You can see some of the Montessori and related philosophies leaking into the book.

As a kid, I mainly wanted to cheer on Clever-Lazy and her inventions and was rather confused by the ending, but as an adult, you can notice the post-partum depression and deeper themes while still cheering the inventions (and chemistry).

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fledgling inventor concentrates so hard on developing her genius, she almost forgets the teaching of the Goddess in the Dancing Mountains.

[Miranda · Rating 2 out of 5]

My mom gave me this book when I was in grade four and I finally read it now (more than twenty years later!). This was such an imaginative story. I appreciate how resourceful and intelligent Clever-Lazy was. It was great to have a woman show how she can be confident and inventive. However, I found there was some jumping around in the plot and several parts were a bit hard to follow. There was also too much of a focus on feminism at the end in my opinion.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over and over again when I was a child. It still comes into my head as a 28 year old woman as one of my favourites that helped instill in me a love of reading.