This book provides the perfect mix of story and stone-cold octopus facts. The rhythm of Kerbel's text reminds me of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, so it would make for a fun read-aloud. Dawn Lo's charming illustrations add to the fun. Highly recommended for both bedtime, and classroom use.

What About an Octopus does a great job at finding a balance between being a cute story, while also being informative. We read about a girl who meets an octopus in the sea, but also get octopus facts along the way. The illustrations are very soft and sweet. My kiddos enjoyed looking at all of the art and finding details. It also includes extra octopus at the end for inquisitive minds. I would definitely recommend this to young readers.

Thanks to Owlkids Books and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review!

3.5 in rating is prob most accurate, rounded up to reward educational value. It's a nice book, colored in light beachy type pastels, & portraying the underwater habitat that one might find an octopus living. It offers some good facts about octopuses, at a child's level.....that, & the drawings, keep it all at a child's interest level. I think it'd be a great book to share with kids.
I received a digital copy of this book from publisher Owlkids Books via NetGalley, providing me with an opportunity to read it & post my own fair/honest review.

In WHAT ABOUT AN OCTOPUS? by Deborah Kerbel with illustrations by Dawn Lo, a young girl is delighted when in her search for seashells in the ocean, she comes across an octopus. Playful text follows the girl as she watches the octopus swim, search for food, and hide from predators. Informative sidebars provide facts to support the activity on each page. With its blend of fantasy and fact paired with beautiful illustrations, this will capture the attention and interest of many young readers, especially those interested in ocean life.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing an eARC of the book with me.

This is a cute ocean themed book filled with lots of facts. The facts are smaller and somewhat tucked out of the way of the main text, so for younger readers the facts could potentially be skipped if appropriate. Older readers will really enjoy these facts, especially the one about octopus poop!

In this non-fiction title we learn many fun facts about octopuses. Great for public libraries or sharing after a field trip to the aquarium. I loved how this title wove a story into the the facts and how accessible the content was. A good title for younger children from preschool through to Grade 3, and even older children will learn something new about these fascinating creatures!

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinion are completely my own.

I love octopi (I still use the word), and even though I know about the Octopus Garden, this image made me happy. This wonderful book was a lovely way to learn about an amazing creature and the bright images really added to the story.

Love the combination of facts with story. The footnotes gave a ton of interesting information and the story would have engaged my kids when they were little.

4 stars

Simple storyline and interesting facts for our young animal enthusiasts! Students will be drawn in by the illustrations and the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie-esque narrative. I can see this one being a hit with K - 2nd grade. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

A delightful combo of fun, fantasy, and facts in this undersea adventure story!

Readers will connect to the young girl's curiosity as she questions, and learns about, the octopus' fascinating different behaviors and physical characteristics, all explained in an age-appropriate way.

The sidebars and the final page of facts are a clever way of including lots of information without overwhelming young readers.

8 thumbs up for this picture book!

What About an Octopus is a great combination of fun lyrical text (very reminiscent of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie) and factual sidebars with interesting and approachable information. This book would be a suitable read aloud in school for K-4 as well as families at home, particularly children and classes interested in animal facts.

Teachers could use this book to introduce a unit on animals or report writing.

The illustrations are charming and would be very engaging for a primary-aged audience (k-3).

Thank you to Net Galley for this e-copy of What About an Octopus by Deborah Kerbel in exchange for a honest review.This is a book within a book that combines fiction and non -fiction facts about an octopus .The little girl goes in search of an octopus while discovering facts about it, his habitat , the food he eats, his defense mechanisms etc.Great book for preschool story time.

Thank you to Netgalley and Owlkids Books for my digital ARC.

Cute book, beautiful illustrations! Each page included storytelling of a little girl finding an octopus friend to play and included octopus facts. The storyline seemed to follow a similar pattern to <u>If you Give a Mouse a Cookie</u> with the "if you do this, they will want this..." type of phrasing. I felt like the reading age for the storyline was young (3-5 year old) but the facts were geared towards slightly older children (5-7 year old). Reading the facts to my 4 year old, he kept asking me to define and explain every concept, such as brain functioning, how many is 280, what are sleep stages, which I think some are little over his head. I liked learning the different facts though, especially the one about the Octopus Garden!

In this underwater adventure, a curious young girl discovers an octopus friend and learns about how they move, play, eat, and sleep. Along the way, sidebars share interesting facts about octopuses. This delightful book is a fun combination of imaginative adventures and fascinating facts.

This is the kind of non-fiction that I really love and this is a fantastic example of it. This would make a great read-aloud because there is a simple narrative that provides interesting tidbits about octopuses that is complemented by additional information that goes more in-depth. For younger readers you can skip the additional information and older readers will have lots of great facts to pore over. Everyone will appreciate the adorable illustrations.

“What About an Octopus?” is full of fun and sweet illustrations, and tons of facts about octopuses! I loved the soft and colorful art style, and even as an adult, I learned a lot of new facts about octopuses. Definitely a must read for any kiddo who loves octopuses or sea creatures!
I also could definitely see this book used in a science lesson or even in a lesson to discuss what a fact is.

This book seamlessly blended fiction and non-fiction to create a fabulously engaging book for young readers. There were fantastic facts about octopuses on each page, matching what was happening in the story. The text was simple but still used enriching vocabulary. The illustrations were vibrant and colorful. I loved the fun facts about octopuses at the end. This would be a great pick for a library story time, a preschool or younger elementary classroom, or a home library.

This book was an enjoyable, informative read for children ages 4-6. Children will enjoy the pictures and story as they learn interesting facts about the octopus. I would recommend this book to parents of teachers of children ages 4-6. Adults might just learn something too!

I learned so much about the octopus in this beautifully illustrated picture book and so will its intended audience, kids 3-7. Weaves a story about visiting the ocean and swimming with these incredible creatures with lots of facts about them. What fun!

The wonders of the ocean are vast and much is yet to be discovered. As I read this book, I was hoping it would encourage kids to become more interested in reading other books on this topic. Even as the young girl discovers an octopus where she’s swimming, the mixture of facts breaks up the story and leaves the reader a bit ambivalent about the topic. Perhaps leave the majority of facts at the end with some suggestions for other books on the ocean and octopus to read.
I received this book for free from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.