Monday, April 6, 2009  Big thumbs up for The Octonauts  I'm
pleased to announce that my oldest son is now old enough to
enjoy books featuring monocle-wearing bear-squids:  That's
right, this week, I shared with my son Meomi's* two Octonauts
books. As I've mentioned in the past, Meomi's character design
is terrific. But their books, especially their first book, are
more than that.  The Octonauts and The Only Lonely Monster is a
pleasure to read. In it, the Octonauts journey around the world,
trying to find the family of a giant nut/squid monster. Along
the way, they meet most of my favorite creatures (narwhals, snow
monkeys, beluga whales, terror lizards, and more):  (He's
Canadian)  I love it, and more importantly, my son loves it and
asks for it at bedtime.  Meomi's second Octonauts book, The
Octonauts & the Sea of Shade isn't as enjoyable.  It's as if
Meomi poured every clever idea into their first Octonauts book
(snow monkeys speaking Japanese! upside down pages! flashbacks
illustrated in a different style