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ODD JOBS by Tony Johnston

ODD JOBS

By

Pub Date: Oct. 5th, 1977
Publisher: Putnam

There's nothing fresh about the frustrations experienced by Odd Jobs (a little boy so dubbed because he does them) when he's hired to give oversized Bouncer a dog wash--but he earns his fifty cents with the boast to Bouncer's owner that ""Under all that dirt is the cleanest dog you ever saw. I bathed him four times today."" And his next assignment--taking Lumpy Edwards' place in dancing class in exchange for an all-day sucker--is at least a novel one. Dancing with tall, chattering Fluffy Murphy, ""he felt like an all-day sucker."" But then nimble O.J. leads a line of bunny hoppers around the floor, down the stairs, out the door, and into the sunshine. ""How was it?"" asks Lumpy Edwards. ""Great. We got away."" The stint as Benny Benson's balloon sitter is less buoyant, and de Paola doesn't take off with any of the situations; but, overall, Odd Jobs is enterprising enough to stay in business.