cover image My Octopus Arms

My Octopus Arms

Keith Baker. S&S/Beach Lane, $16.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4424-5843-7

In flat, crisp-edged digital art, versatile author/illustrator Baker (LMNO Peas) draws underwater-themed images in contrasting blues and oranges that consider the myriad capabilities of an octopus’s appendages. The text of the book is a long answer to a casual question from a crab: “Octopus, what can all your eight arms do?” In light patter, the octopus boasts, “My arms can... stir the pots,/ untangle knots,/ tip a hat,/ and swing a bat.” They might also play several games of chess, or write seven different pieces of correspondence at the same time and still have an arm left over to stack up all the letters he’s already finished. Or they might simultaneously roll out piecrust, mix dough, and hold pie tins. Very young children will enjoy working their way through the pictures and talking about the octopus’s unexpected skills (such as playing a guitar, a banjo, and a harp at the same time), and they’ll be soothed by the octopus’s parting words: “With a hug—not too tight!—/ my arms can make it feel all right.” Ages 3–7. (Sept.)