I'm a Dumbo Octopus!: A Graphic Guide to Cephalopods

by Anne Lambelet, Anne Lambelet (Illustrator)

Overview

Meet Grimpy! He’s a dumbo octopus, and he’s taking us on a tour of the whole cephalopod class—underwater creatures such as cuttlefish, nautiluses, octopuses, and squids.

Grimpy knows all about what makes these many-armed marvels so special, like how the coconut octopus uses tools or the cuttlefish talks with color! It seems like every creature has a special ability—except him. When Grimpy gets stuck on everything a dumbo octopus can’t do, the other cephalopods show him why it’s great to be a dumbo.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798765661376
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/04/2025
Series:	Anne Lambelet's Marine Life Graphic Guides
Pages:	72
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.17(d)
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

Anne Lambelet earned a bachelor's degree in illustration from the University of the Arts in 2014 where she was awarded the Roger T. Hane award for the top illustration portfolio by a senior. She currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband Brice, her adorable dog, Eevee and her morbidly obese (but also adorable) cat, Fitzgerald.

Anne Lambelet earned a bachelor's degree in illustration from the University of the Arts in 2014 where she was awarded the Roger T. Hane award for the top illustration portfolio by a senior. She currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband Brice, her adorable dog, Eevee and her morbidly obese (but also adorable) cat, Fitzgerald.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2024-12-28
In this work of graphic nonfiction, a stubby pink host introduces readers to the other members of a remarkably diverse taxonomic class.

Those who don’t already appreciate the special talents of the four types of cephalopods—octopuses, nautiluses, cuttlefish, and squids—will get both an earful and an eyeful from chatty, pink-cheeked Grimpy (“That’s short for Grimpoteuthis”). The utterly appealing narrator undulates up from the benthic depths to point blunt limbs at various smiling but otherwise accurately rendered relatives while fondly highlighting their intelligence and abilities to disguise themselves by changing shapes and colors, to ooze through the narrowest of gaps, and to escape predators amid billowing inky clouds. Lambelet offers an enchanting blend of whimsy and well-chosen, creatively expressed facts. She covers multiple species, from the Japanese flying squid, which can glide through the air for short distances, to the giant Pacific octopus, which can weigh 100 pounds. And when Grimpy, who can’t fly, glow, change shape, or shoot ink, feels less than special, several cousins gather around to soothingly lay out the unique adaptations that allow dumbos to live at depths of over 23,000 feet, more than twice as deep as any of them. A visual glossary and a photo of the adorably ungainly narrator round off this look at some of the ocean’s more exotic residents.

An informative, buoyant, and wildly original look at some marine marvels. (selected bibliography, further reading)(Graphic nonfiction. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews

"Animal-loving kids will devour I'm a Dumbo Octopus!: A Graphic Guide to Cephalopods, Anne Lambelet's charming, colorful, and funny guide to everybody's favorite eight-armed sea creatures. . . a delightful, amusing nonfiction graphic novel perfect for curious kids."—starred, Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher