The Octopus's Holiday

Christmas will never be the same again in the little town of Fishery. And it will never be the same again for you, thanks to two one-of-a-kind octopus friends named Doris and Shelly.

"The Octopus's Holiday" is not like any other Christmas story you have read. We all know fish like to swim in schools, where everyone is just the same as everyone else. For the fish, every year Christmas has to be just the same as every year before. But octopuses are different. And this year, when Shelly comes for a special holiday visit with her best friend Doris, you'll see how different they-and Christmas!-can be. But don't give away the surprise ending!

Dive into this underwater adventure with Doris and Shelly, and you'll find more joy and fun than anyone with eight arms could ever hold at once. Written for children and adults of all ages, and beautifully illustrated on every page, this story about community and acceptance will leave you singing: O Spectacular, O Tentacular, O Christmas O!

Paul Pycraft has always been interested in stories written for children and adults who know they are different from everyone else. He wrote his first children's story at eight years old called "Twelve Feet of Snow." And when somebody told him that it never snows as much as twelve feet, he didn't back down. He got out his crayons and made the story into its very own book. Although he is all grown up, at least technically, Paul still writes the kinds of stories that he needed when he was eight years old who felt different from everyone else. And now he wants to share these stories with everyone who needs to see their uniqueness reflected in the world around them, whether they are LGBTQ+ or feel different from the crowd in some other way. Paul Pycraft's books try to imagine completely new stories about being different and about discovering all the beauty and variety that life has to offer. And he is not interested in following anyone's expectations about what a children's story should be, because you can't tell a new kind of story by following the same kind of format as everyone else. "The Octopus's Holiday: A Different Kind of Christmas Story" is the first in an eight-part series about two one-of-a-kind octopus friends named Doris and Shelly. Paul Pycraft is the pseudonym of Michael P. Bibler, Ph.D., who teaches American literature at Louisiana State University.

The Mermaids of New Orleans, by Sally Asher.