AN Octopus Followed Me Home - Hardcover

Yaccarino, Dan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670874019 ISBN 13: 9780670874019

Publisher: Viking Juvenile, 1997

Synopsis

Highlighted by bright, bold artwork, this humorous tale of a little girl's inability to say no to a big, cuddly octopus with no home, will make young readers laugh out loud.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Assembling a menagerie of pets to perturb parents is nothing new, found in Steven Kellogg's Can I Keep Him? (1971) and Jake Wolf's Daddy Could I Have an Elephant? (1996), to name two. Superb illustrations make this take on the idea especially memorable. Yaccarino (see review above) keeps the plot simple: When a girl drags home an octopus, her dad decides the eight-legger is one pet too many. He points out that she's already collected the mountain goats on the roof, a bear snoozing behind the sofa, and a refrigerator full of penguins. Reluctantly, the little girl tosses her pal back into the briny deep. She's sad, but not for long; during the return trip, a dinosaur follows her home. The lumpy animal portraits are perfect at conveying the larger animals' bulk; the creatures packed into one room look like escaped balloons from Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Smaller creatures are painted creatively, too: Penguins line the refrigerator rack like a row of bowling pins, and rabbits appear to be part bunny, part carrot. (Picture book. 3-8) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K?Yaccarino's retro colors and shapes tell the story of a little girl who brings home yet another stray?the octopus of the title being only the latest addition to a menagerie that includes crocodiles under the bed, seals in the pool, penguins in the fridge, mountain goats on the roof, and two elephants in the garage. Dad finally has had it and sends his daughter out to take the eight-legged creature back to the sea. She isn't too upset, since she picks up another stray (a dinosaur) on the way home. The rhyming text is graphically expressed in rounded, large illustrations. Flat lime greens, burnt oranges, and mustard yellows highlight the double-page spreads and will carry well for group sharing. Youngsters will delight in the silliness of the pets who take over the house. Pair this with Jake Wolf's Daddy, Could I Have an Elephant? (Greenwillow, 1995) and Hiawyn Oram's A Boy Wants a Dinosaur (Farrar, 1991) for storytime use.?Lisa Falk, Los Angeles Public Library.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Juvenile
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0670874019
• ISBN 13: 9780670874019
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Yaccarino Dan