Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Postmodern Writing

When I began reading Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie, I really thought that I was going to enjoy the book. However, as the story went on, I really did not enjoy reading it anymore. I realize that this book has a lot of great literary aspects that we were looking for such as intertexuality and magical realism. In addition, it dealt with many issues, such as peace and war, that can be translated into the real world.
This book is clearly post modern due to all of the modern influences as seen in its intertexuality. It is obvious that much of the book was based off of other writings such as the Wizard of Oz, which was a book first, and even The Lord of the Rings books. However, it puts a spin on those stories by incorporating modern day dilemmas within the text.
I know that this is a children's book so perhaps that is the main reason why I became bored with this book so quickly. But I felt that it was Rudie's writing style that also turned me off. I felt like Rushdie was constantly trying to be ironic and that was extremely annoying to me. I know that people see this book as having great symbolism and meaning, but I thought it was tiring how ironic and clever he was constantly trying to be.
Overall, I did not enjoy the book, but I think some children might enjoy it, however, children would not be able to understand the meaning behind certain aspects of the story, so I am unsure about who this book is really meant for.