Hello, My Name is Octicorn
“I’m the only Octicorn there is, which sometimes makes it hard to fit in on land or at sea.”
“Hello My Name is Octicorn” introduces us to a quirky character who is half octopus and half unicorn as its name would suggest. The gist of the story is that because of its uniqueness, Octi doesn’t really fit in with any particular group. Octi goes on to list all the things that make it special, and a worthy friend.
The end of the story leaves us to ponder whether or not we would be a friend to Octi. Octi writes a simple note “Will you be my friend (check) yes or no?”
We recognize that most children’s books use animal characters - maybe as a way to appeal to as many people as possible without outright identifying an ethnicity or personality type, etc. While we try and avoid animal protagonists in an effort to highlight books with people that look like all of us - we think there just might be a little Octi in all of us.
Many of the reviews for this story chastized the author for not making Octi more charming and some even stated that the character was so lackluster that the invitation for friendship at the end seemed desperate. Maybe those folks have never been desperate for friendship. Maybe they can’t relate to being akward.
Not so great reviews aside, we say Octi is an awesome book. This book is one of those that gives children an experience and the vocaublary to think about things that are hard to express. Even if your child has been invited to every class birthday party, this story might encourage them to think about how it might feel not to include someone. This story could also be used to talk about not fitting into one or another catergory.
This is a good one for identifying feelings and then processing them. One of our favorite lines is “sometimes Octicorns feel blue.” When reading this to children, pause to think about emotions as colors. Where maybe the words aren’t yet there, a color can be a way to idntify and name how your child is feeling. You’d be suprised which colors correlate to which feelings - it’s different for each person. Using something like a color to describe a feeling honors the complecity of emotions and may reveal a lot more than the words, happy, sad and mad.
We find Octi to be charming, a bit goofy and totally realteable. As far as being Octi’s friend? We’d check yes - if not just for the cool dance moves.
Some things to think about…
Octi says that sometimes he feels blue. What colors have you felt?
How would you feel if you were the only one in your class not invited to a birthday party? What does that say about the person having the party? Should everyone be your friend? Why/why noy?
Activity Idea: Choose two different animals to inspire your own creature creation. Would you make a bee-bear? a bunny snake? What is the coolest thing about your creature?
