How to Get Your Octopus to School
How to Get Your Octopus to School is a hilarious and endearing back-to-school story that shows readers how to safely deliver their shy octopus to his first day of school, thwarting his camouflage, ink, and all eight tentacles along the way.
Getting your octopus to school won’t be easy. He would much rather stay home with you and play hide-and-seek or dress-up. But you know your octopus will love school if he gives it a chance. And you’ll tell him that . . . as soon as you can find him . . .
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Penguin Random House★”Scharnhorst’s second-person narrative slips readers into the perspective of the young girl sending her cunning, yet cuddly, octopus off to school. While the octopus’s game of hide-and-seek may extend a bit too long for grown-ups, young readers will hardly notice as they enjoy spotting the octopus hiding throughout Sinquett’s playful and brightly colored digital cartoon illustrations. Spoiler alert: The goodbye hug at the end of the story might draw a tear from grown-up readers getting ready to send children off to school. Back matter contains a list of “Ten (Mostly) True Facts About Octopuses,” for readers curious about the habits of octopuses highlighted throughout. VERDICT A charming, eight-armed hug of a story that won’t hide long on library shelves.”–School Library Journal (starred review)
“A charming back-to-school book for the nervous octopus in all of us.” – Kirkus reviews
“Addressing readers in a second-person voice, Scharnhorst offers funny and endearingly patient point-by-point advice on a morning routine that includes finding one’s octopus (“Octopuses are good at hiding. Very, very good”) and getting out the door (“He’ll insist on picking out eight of his favorite stuffed animals to bring along. This will take FOREVER!”). All the while, Sinquett’s breezy digital art depicts a small, salmon-hued octopus humorously exhibiting arrayed behaviors both human (trying on outfits, sitting at the breakfast table) and cephalopod (camouflaging, inking). Arrival at the classroom, filled with octopus friends and a kind-faced teacher, sets the stage for a tender transition. “Ten (Mostly) True Facts About Octopuses” closes this sweetly humorous take on a familiar rite of passage.” – Publisher’s Weekly