Sunday, July 19, 2015

Uh-Oh Octopus! by Elle van Lieshout & Erik van Os -- OPTIONAL

van Lieshout, Elle and Erik van Os Uh-Oh Octopus!, illustrated by Mies van Hout. PICTURE BOOK. Lemniscaat, 2014. $17.95. Content: G.

Octopus loves the cave where he's made his home, but when he returns from a swim one day he finds a giant creature's tail sticking out of his hole. Too terrified to confront the usurper himself, he swims about looking for help from his friends. Their varied suggestions just leave him confused, however, so he finally decides to follow his gut and simply ask the intruder what it's doing there. He's stunned -- and thrilled -- by the response.

I enjoyed this book up to the very end. The illustrations are gorgeous, and I suspected that the moral would be to listen to your own heart rather than asking everyone else for an opinion, or to give someone the benefit of the doubt before attacking them. Instead it seems to be that it's worth helping a stranger in case s/he turns out to be a beautiful lady. (And if she doesn't, then is the help wasted?) Perhaps something was lost in the translation, since this book was originally published in the authors' native Dutch.

Pre-K, EL (K-3) -- OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Caryn

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