Octicorn Party!

by Kevin Diller, Tian Mulholland (Illustrator), Justin Lowe

Overview

In this utterly charming sequel to the popular Hello, My Name Is Octicorn, Octi learns that he can’t please everyone....but he can encourage everyone to just be themselves.

Octicorn dreams of having a pool party. But what if no one comes? That would be the most embarrassing thing ever! So Octi sets out to have a party that will make everyone happy―until he realizes that may just be a disaster waiting to happen.

Octicorn Party! is for anyone who’s ever felt just a little bit different...which, as it turns out, is pretty much all of us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062387943
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/31/2020
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	783,853
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kevin Diller is a writer and producer who lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and two kids.

Tian Mulholland is an artist and a creative director at an advertising agency in Portland, Oregon. He lives in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife and three kids. Octicorn Party! is his picture book debut.

Justin Lowe is an artist and filmmaker who somehow entered adulthood with his childlike imagination entirely intact. Over a decade ago now, Justin took Sharpie to paper and combined an octopus with a unicorn. That doodle somehow took on a life of its own and is now throwing a party.

Editorial Reviews

Old fans and new viewers will enjoy reading this one aloud and sharing in Octicorn’s foibles. . . . [The story] carries a message about the importance of being oneself—and Octicorn is very distinctly himself.”  %COMM_CONTRIB%Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Old fans and new viewers will enjoy reading this one aloud and sharing in Octicorn’s foibles. . . . [The story] carries a message about the importance of being oneself—and Octicorn is very distinctly himself.” 

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

2019-12-08
Will Octicorn's party be a success?

Octicorn loves pool parties and is planning one, but the horned cephalopod worries no one will show. Octicorn invites Unicorn, who says, "If there are rainbows to fly over. I'm in." Octicorn is happy Unicorn will attend. Turtle says he will come if no one talks—he's shy. Seahorse will come only if Unicorn is not invited. Snail will attend only if there is break dancing. Lion wants to eat the other guests, but Octicorn doesn't think that's a good idea. Woodchuck, of course, will come if there is wood to chuck. Octicorn is happy so many creatures will be there…until the hapless host realizes that many of the guests' stipulations are mutually exclusive; there's no way to satisfy them all. So Octicorn decides to have "a do what you want, be who you are, no matter what anyone else thinks, party instead." And a good time is clearly being had by all—except Lion, who cannot attend but is given a cupcake to eat outside. Creators Diller and Lowe go beyond the one-joke core of Octi's introduction in Hello, My Name Is Octicorn (2016) to present a tale of social awkwardness with dryly deadpan humor that the painfully shy, in particular, will identify with. Mulholland's childlike scribbly doodle art replicates the look of the first book (done by Lowe with Binny Talib), and with its occasional splashes of color, it fits the tale and reinforces the tone.

An inclusive, be-yourself party—with cupcakes—can't help but succeed. (Picture book. 3-9)

Kirkus Reviews

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