At a recent family outing to see the Litterbugs exhibit and admire my sons' projects therein at the Art Alias gallery in Indianapolis' Fountain Square neighborhood, we stumbled upon a small section of art books. One caught my son's avid eye: There's an Octopus Under My Bed! by Donald Ross and Dean Blase. I checked it out with himn and was impressed by the nuclear-bright colors, graffiti-artist style, and swaggering bravado of the fantastical animal characters. Even the main character, in bemoaning his fears, is putting them out there in a really proud way. We took the book home to read over and over again, and I invited E, a 7 year old boy, to provide a guest review that follows.
Q: What do you think of this book?
A: I like the tale of the story, the way Elijah adventures with all these animals and finds a new friend. And his lost friend isn't really lost.
Q: What about the artwork?
A: Its neat, the way the colors blend and shine.
Q: Do you think you could draw like this?
A: It isn't drawing.
Q: Oh, is it painting?
A: No. Yes. It is like both of those. Its neat.
Q: Was it hard to read?
A: No, but I had to think more about it. My brain was quieter after.
Posts
