"Otis" reminds me of a childhood favorite of mine. One of the first books I think I owned that I could read myself. That book was "Little Black a Pony" by Walter Farley (of "Black Stallion" fame). Farley's book told the story of a friendship between a boy and his pony. A close friendship that was interrupted when a big red horse came into the picture. The boy was intrigued by the bigger horse, but as it turns out old friendships are not to be easily forgotten, and Little Black saves the boys life when Big Red cannot because of his size.In a sense, "Otis" is like this older book, and I couldn't help liking it for that reason, because Otis, the little red tractor, is supplanted by a Big Yellow tractor. That is, until he proves himself to loyal and true to his friends.
Talking Points :::
Comparisons aside, Loren Long has produced a charming book with fantastic artwork that is so sweet and funny that my children wanted to read it with me over and over again. As you can see from the cover Loren has done most of the drawings in a monochrome, which is spiced up with splashes of color. That effect simply adds to the charm.
"Otis" is sure to please most children: toddler thru 7 or 8 years-old.
Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs
Otis
Accelerated Reading level : generic "2"
- Hardcover: 40 pages
- Publisher: Philomel (September 22, 2009)
- ISBN-10: 0399252487
3 comments :
"Otis" will forever more remind me of Otis T Spufford in the ellen Tebbetts books by ... Beverly Cleary? Hmmm -- I'll look it up in a second. He was the thorn in her side and someone we could ALL relate to. So I do not like that Loren Long has stolen (to me anyway) a character! What a funny reaction.
Since this is about good books for kids, and I'm on a hunt for same for the daughter of a friend of mine, you've reminded me I need to put the Beverly Cleary books (both picture and chapter) on my list for her. Those books hold up so well, even though they were written decades ago. It's hard to know what of today's book will hold up like that, but another one I have on the list for my friend's daughter Maddie is a new one I just came across: Runt Farm: Under New Management by Amanda Lorenzo. A cute group of stray animals take over an abandoned farm and make it home -- and like all families, have their difficulties, and each member has its own little quirks that must be dealt with -- and respected. My friend adopted her daughter, so I think that angle will especially appeal to them.
Just checked -- it IS Beverly Cleary!
Oooh Liz, you've peaked my interest and I'm going to track down "Runt Farm". It sounds like something my children and I would really like.
[[Btw, if you want, you could do a 'guest' post-review of it. Or even offer your list. I mean, who doesn't like a list of good books!]]
In any case, I find that some of the 'old books' are so good. In fact, though we try to review new books here, Don B. and I began this blog in order to review good books that seemed to be falling off people's radar screen.
Thanks for the suggestion.
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