How to Get Your Octopus to School

It’s all-hands-on-deck when a pale-skinned child with long black pigtails tries to wrangle an octopus for his first day of school. Addressing readers in a second-person voice, Scharnhorst offers funny and endearingly patient point-by-point advice on a morning routine that includes finding one’s octopus (“Octopuses are good at hiding. Very, very good”) and getting out the door (“He’ll insist on picking out eight of his favorite stuffed animals to bring along. This will take FOREVER!”). All the while, Sinquett’s breezy digital art depicts a small, salmon-hued octopus humorously exhibiting arrayed behaviors both human (trying on outfits, sitting at the breakfast table) and cephalopod (camouflaging, inking). Arrival at the classroom, filled with octopus friends and a kind-faced teacher, sets the stage for a tender transition. “Ten (Mostly) True Facts About Octopuses” closes this sweetly humorous take on a familiar rite of passage. Ages 4–8. (May)