Inky's Great Escape by Casey Lyall and Sebastia Serra

This is the last review of 4 children's book reviews I've posted, today. 2 were Christmas stories, 1 a winter tale. I'm taking the rest of the week off for the Thanksgiving holiday, since I have family in town, and I'll return next Monday. Happy Thanksgiving, American friends!

Subtitled The Incredible (and Mostly True) Story of an Octopus Escape, Inky's Great Escape is the story of an octopus who is retired from being an escape artist. Now living in a local aquarium to rest, Inky enjoys playing games with his pal Blotchy (also an octopus) and telling him stories about his great escapes. One day, Blotchy tells Inky he doubts Inky can escape the aquarium and Inky sees it as a challenge. He draws up a plan and then waits for the right opportunity, which turns out to be an opening left in the tank by one of the keepers.

Of course, in real life the octopus was not probably a dramatic storyteller (who knows -- you'd have to speak Octopus) but Inky's Great Escape really is based on the true story of an octopus who slipped out of his tank and down a drain into the sea at the National Aquarium of New Zealand. In the book, Inky comes back to visit by way of the drain, telling the stories of his great escapes. In real life, I presume he never returned.

Highly recommended - A wonderful story, colorful and funny and sweet. When Inky's Great Escape landed on my doorstep, I read it aloud to my husband. He's not really all that interested in listening to children's books but he eventually set down his phone and smiled. Inky's story is fun to read and very entertaining. It's boldly colored with cheerful-looking animals. Children will love the idea of a playful octopus taking a challenge, succeeding, and coming back to visit his friend.

Note about the cover: You can't tell in the image above, but the blue-green background of the cover has a gorgeous metallic sheen. It's also notable that every spread is as colorful as the cover (not always the case). Absolutely eye-popping illustrations.

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates, Illustrated by Sebastia Serra

A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates, illustrated by Sebastia Serra, is my absolute favorite of the four Christmas books Sterling sent me for review. It begins with identical meter to the classic poem but instead of Santa, the fellow bringing the bounty on Christmas Eve is named Sir Peggedy:

'Twas the night before Christmas aboard the Black Sark.

Not a creature was stirrin', not even a shark!

The stockin's were stuck to the bowsprit with tar,

In hopes that Sir Peggedy soon would be thar.

The pirates were snorin' like pigs in thar beds,

 While visions of treasure chests danced in thar heads. 

An' I with me spyglass and scruffy old dog,

Stood watch in the crow's nest for ships in the fog.

You can see from the cover that the illustrations are eye-popping colorful and there's a great deal for a small child to look at whilst an adult reads to him, or for the child to look at on his or her own. The text is a delight. I smiled all the way through the reading of A Pirate's Night Before Christmas and I can't imagine a child not loving it. Even better, there's a two-page "Pirate Glossary" in which pirate and sailing terminology is defined. The final verse:

I laughed an' I danced an' I shouted with glee, 

As up went his sleigh an' then down to the sea. 

But I heard him exclaim 'ere he splashed 'neath a star:

Merry Christmas, me buckos, an' a Happy New Yaargghhhhhhh!

What a hoot! The paperback is a mere $6.95. I reviewed A Pirate's 12 Days of Christmas by the same author and illustrator in 2012 and loved it. Unfortunately, my husband took it to work and gave it away to a friend with small children, without bothering to ask if it was one I wanted to give away. Arrrrgh, matey. Reading A Pirate's Night Before Christmas makes me want to rush right out to buy its companion. I highly recommend both.

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

A Pirate's Twelve Days of Christmas by Philip Yates, illustrated by Sebastia Serra

A Pirate's Twelve Days of Christmas by Philip Yates, illustrated by Sebastia Serra is a book I expected not to like, once I held it in my hands.  And, then I opened it up.  This happens to me a lot, the judging a book by its cover thing.  Oddly, the thing that turned me off was nothing major -- just the weird nose on the young pirate.  I don't know why, but I really dislike the dark noses throughout the book.

Otherwise, the text is cute and I found myself mentally singing A Pirate's Twelve Days of Christmas to the tune of the real "Twelve Days of Christmas" tune.  The rhythm fits.  There's a bit of introductory text before the author dives into the portion that fits the tune.  

Apart from strange noses, I absolutely love the illustrations in this book.  They're bright, cheery and bold.  You can see the colors absolutely leap out at you.  

A random bit of the text to show you a bit of the introductory rhyme along with an example of how well the rhyme fits the original tune:

But when I woke I saw a sight:  "What's this upon our ship?
Avast!" I cried, an' danced a jig.  A song burst from me lips.

On the first day of Christmas,
a gift was sent to me:
a parrot in a palm tree!
On the second day of Christmas,
a gift was sent to me:
2 cutlasses
an'a parrot in a palm tree.

Highly Recommended.  Gorgeous, bright illustrations (with noses I disliked, but that's kind of a, "Gosh, big woo" thing), fun text -- the 12 days portion of which fits the original song -- and a storyline that will keep you smiling all make for a truly entertaining book.  Santa is "jolly ol' Sir Peggedy", incidentally.  There is a terrific "Pirate Glossary" at the back of the book, as well.  So you can look up words like, "avast" and "landlubber".  Especially recommended to people who want to teach their kids how to talk like a pirate early, for ages 3 and up.


©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.