Octavia & Her Purple Ink Cloud

Octavia and Her Purple Ink Cloud

by Fran Hawk

ISBN: 978-1607185864

$14.64 (hardback)

$9.95 (paperback)

Spanish copy & Teacher's Guides (Here)

About the book:

Octavia Octopus and her sea-animal friends love playing camouflage games to practice how they would hide from a “big, hungry creature.” Octavia, however, just cannot seem to get her colors right when she tries to shoot her purple ink cloud. What happens when the big, hungry shark shows up looking for his dinner?  This creative book introduces basic colors along with the camouflage techniques of various sea animals, a great introduction to marine biology!

My thoughts:

Octavia and Her Purple Ink Cloud is an interesting look at camouflage and my kids found it funny to see the different colors that Octavia squirted when she was trying to squirt purple so she would be camouflaged. My kids used the double page spreads to seek & find the shark, different fish and sea animals like a clownfish, flounder, parrotfish, porcupine fish, seahorse, sea turtle and shark. They also learned how the creatures protect themselves when the shark comes looking for his dinner – does he find any? You'll have to read the book to find out.

This book would be great for kids 3 ½ and up depending on their attention span. Most of the pages just have a descriptive line or two with occasional pages with quite a bit of text. There is one page in particular with a LOT of text – but the momentum and action is building and that held my kids attention quite well.

Octavia and Her Purple Ink Cloud was vetted for scientific accuracy by the educators at seaWorld and the South Carolina Aquarium. Children, parents & teachers will love the “For Creative Minds” educational section that includes: Fun facts about animal camouflage and protection techniques; Information about Octopuses and An octopus ink cloud craft using primary colors (online). There are also “related websites” and “teaching activities” on Arbordale Publishing's website to help parents and educators expand the learning possibilities! Http://ArbordalePublishing.com

Details:

Age 3-7, 32 pages, available in English/Spanish & ebook/auto-flip pages w/ audio formats, Quizzes, aligned to standards. Reading Level Aligned: Accelerated reader: 3.4, Lexile: AD 730, Fountas & Pinnell: L. This book has received the following awards:  Silver Mom's Choice Award and is a nominee in the following awards: 2006 So California Ind. Booksellers Assoc. Children's Book; 2006 New Atlantic Ind. Booksellers Assoc. Picture Book of the Year Award & Book Sense Picks.

Authors:
Doreen Rathmell and Donna Rathmell German are sisters who have a passion for children's books & believe that reading to children is the best way to instill imagination and a love of learning. The annual family beach reunion and a Discovery Channel program about octopuses sparked the beginnings of "Octavia". 

Disclaimer: I received this book from Arbordale Publishing in exchange for my honest review. Regardless I only recommend products or services I have personally read or used & think my readers will enjoy.