Tuesday, 19 November 2013

Octopus's Garden by Ringo Starr and Ben Cort (Children's, Picture book, 9/10E)

 October 2013, Simon and Schuster, 32 pages, Hardback, Review copy

Themes: life in the sea, sea creatures, sea horses, fish, crabs, treasure, sea plants, animals having fun with humans, breathing underwater, turtles,
 
Content: Cute scenes, lots of fun

Summary from Simon and Schuster

Based on the lyrics of the world famous Beatles song, this glorious picture book follows five children on a magical journey through the Octopus's garden. The playful Octopus takes them on a wondrous underwater adventure - riding on the backs of turtles, playing pirates in a sunken city and sheltering from a storm in the octopus's cave.
Based on the lyrics of the world famous Beatles song, this glorious picture book follows five children on a magical journey through the Octopus's garden. The playful Octopus takes them on a wondrous underwater adventure - riding on the backs of turtles, playing pirates in a sunken city and sheltering from a storm in the octopus's cave. - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Octopuss-Garden/Ringo-Starr/9781471121173#sthash.6WJlFs2m.dpuf
Based on the lyrics of the world famous Beatles song, this glorious picture book follows five children on a magical journey through the Octopus's garden. The playful Octopus takes them on a wondrous underwater adventure - riding on the backs of turtles, playing pirates in a sunken city and sheltering from a storm in the octopus's cave. - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Octopuss-Garden/Ringo-Starr/9781471121173#sthash.6WJlFs2m.dummary from Simon and Schuster


Nayuleska's thoughts
This is a really cheery read: both the colours and style of illustration pair up well with the imaginative sea adventure. I adored how the garden had shells/limpets in patterns on the sea floor, I wished the mermaid statues holding different items were real mermaids, and there's no doubting how shiny the gleaming gold treasure is. 

My favourite creatures were the seahorses, sadly not present in every single page. My favourite scenes are as follows: a child hugging a mega cute turtle, a girl sliding down a ruined stone slope, and a girl putting dozens of bracelets on the octopus's legs. There was one page which for me didn't match with the part of the story (swimming with a whale in the sea didn't feel like being in the octopus's garden as the garden wasn't in sight.) Otherwise this is a charming read about friendship and adventure.

Suggested read
For more sea themed antics check out The Pirate House by Rebecca Patterson (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E)

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