Book Review: O'Shae the Octopus by Brandee Buble, Eliska Liska

O'Shae the Octopus is a picturebook written by Brandee Buble and illustrated by Eliska Liska.
O'Shae is an octopus that is typically happy. He is a little diffrerent, having ten arms instead of eight, but with a supportive family and a good friend he loves what his differences let him do for others. When a couple of bullies come on the scene they try to ruin O'Shae's fun.  But, he moves on and creates an even better way to spend his day of fun.

O'Shae the Octopus features bright full page illustrations with rhyming couplets. The story has a nice flow to it. The illustrations are well paired with the words but the quality was a little inconsistent. Sometimes there were perfect, bright and bold, but others they seemed a little less on. I am hoping this is because I was looking at a digital galley rather than the final copy and I giving them the benefit of the doubt that the pictures will all be  of consistent quality in the print version. I liked the message of the story, and the consistent good nature of O'Shae. It did seem a bit heavy handed at times, but I think it will play better with the intended audience than with this adult.

I would recommend O'Shae the Octopus for classrooms, storytimes, and home reading particularly when starting discussions about bullying, individual differences, and related topics. The rhyming couplets flow nicely for reading aloud and the  bright colors will show well while sharing the book.

About the Author:

Brandee Buble grew up in Burnaby, BC, with her big brother Michael and little sister Crystal. Growing up as the daughter of a fisherman, Brandee spent many summers aboard her father's boat, where she had plenty of time to let her imagination run wild about all the creatures that surrounded her. Brandee taught children with special needs for eight great years and that's where her stories were born. She loved writing fun stories to keep her students engaged, often communicating with them through rhyme. Now married to her high school sweetheart, Brandee is a stay-at-home mom to her two awesome kids, O'Shae and Jayde. She is crazy about her family... in fact her sister Crystal is her next door neighbour! She still absolutely loves the ocean and can be found most sunny days on her boat with her family and friends.

Eliska Liska is a world-travelling freelance artist currently based in Victoria, BC. She has a master's degree in Contemporary Art and New Media from Ostrava University, Czech Republic. Her book Suzie’s Sourdough Circus was published in 2011 and she was the 2013 Summer Reading Club artist for BC.