HELLO, MY NAME IS OCTICORN

This is a guest review from Children’s Picture Book review specialist, Pat Koelmel:

Most children, if not all, at one time or another feel like they don’t fit in, and as a result, they have a tough time making friends. Also tough is crafting innovative stories on the subject of this popular (sometimes even overdone) universal theme. But in this 2016 picture book (created by Kevin Diller and Justin Lowe for children ages 4-8) a friendless, one-of-a-kind Octicorn puts a charming, oh so fresh spin on it.

So what is an Octicorn? Well, it’s what you get when you mate a unicorn with an octopus. How could this have happened, you ask? Hey, it’s a quirky picture book. Anything can happen in a quirky picture book. But if you still insist on having it spelled out, it happened the usual way: a unicorn and octopus meet, fall in love, and, well, you know the rest. The story goes on to give the many reasons why an Octicorn, in particular, makes for an especially good friend. I guarantee that it will have children and adults alike chuckling, but at the same time, it will tug at your heartstrings. Well-paced and undeniably child-relatable, this tale also comes with an ending that tickled my fancy but, sorry folks, that’s for me to know and you to find out.

Now, a word about the illustrations by the talented Justin Lowe who perfectly captured author Kevin Diller’s forlorn Octicorn with simple yet expressive (a combo not so easy to pull off) black and white drawings. By the way, both Mr. Diller and Mr. Lowe have impressive credentials. While Diller currently focuses on writing children’s books, once upon a time he was a screenwriter, playwright, and producer. And Justin Lowe? Besides being an artist, he is also a filmmaker. 

This brings me to my closing paragraph where I planned to sum up why you should buy this book. But if all those glowing comments above haven’t already sold you, I doubt if anything else I say will change your mind. As for me, this book had me at hello.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: Hello, My Name is Octicorn was self-published prior to catching the eye of HarperCollins. That’s right. So, to those authors and/or illustrators who are self-published, you could be next.