2021-07-14
All kinds of animals interact fancifully in loving embraces.
An eclectic collection of animals is depicted in warm, softly textured watercolor paintings on double-page spreads. Each of the diverse animals is shown affectionately cuddling another in novel ways, sometimes two of the same species, sometimes completely different. An elephant has a tiny, big-eared fox nestled in its ear: “I love you with all of my ears”; an aardvark, a tapir and a proboscis monkey twine their snouts together as ants crawl around; multieyed spiders ogle each other; a gray fox wraps its tail around a lion’s mane; whales and dolphins breach and dive; and a pair of chameleons is locked in a tight embrace: “I love you with all of my skin.” The title animal, the octopus, loves its child “with all of my hearts.” These and other whimsical conjunctions of a variety of animals will afford a lively bedtime conversation, aided by a useful glossary at the end with fun facts about all the animals depicted. Did you know that Arctic foxes have 20,000 hairs per square centimeter on their bodies, and there is a millipede with 750 legs—“more than any other creature on the planet!” The nerdy older sib will enjoy this as much as the little one.
Playfully shows that love comes in all shapes and sizes. (Picture book. 2-5)
