Octavia and Her Purple Ink Cloud

Children's Literature

In real life, an octopus possesses the ability to shoot out a cloud of purple-black ink in order to hide from its enemies. However, in this delightful and entertaining tale, Octavia the Octopus never seems to get the color right. She encounters other sea creatures that have interesting ways of disguising themselves. The Porcupine Fish, swaying Seahorse, and color-changing Freddy Flounder are just a few. Each time she attempts to show them her camouflage trait, the cloud never comes out right. She dispels yellow, orange, green, red, and blue ink in her attempts, but she never gives up. She believes she can get it right with practice. Finally, her persistence pays off when a cloud of dark purple ink shields her from the view of a dangerous shark. This fun story is educational without being didactic. Listeners learn not to give up and that practicing a task is necessary in order to get better. In addition, they are offered a plethora of information about exciting sea creatures. Vibrantly colored and detailed illustrations add to the book's appeal, and unique back matter contains information about camouflage and protection, fun facts, and a painting activity. This "complete package" is a must in schools, homes, and libraries with young children. 2006, Sylvan Dell Publishing, Ages 4 to 8.
—Nancy Garhan Attebury

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-Octavia Octopus and her marine friends like to play a game called "how to hide from a hungry creature." When Octavia boasts that she can squirt a purple ink cloud to help her escape, all she can manage are yellow, orange, green, red, and blue ink clouds. But practice makes perfect, and when a hungry shark looms up and the other creatures hide, Octavia manages to squirt a big dark purple cloud and escapes in the nick of time. Large, bright, sometimes garish illustrations show the underwater animals in detail. A page on camouflage and protection and other "fun facts" about the octopus help make this a learning tool for classrooms. Less-well-advised is a "Color your own ink cloud" craft page, intended to be copied or downloaded, which is an open invitation for the first enthusiastic young patron to ruin the book. Strictly additional.-Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.