The Octonauts and the Only Lonely Monster by Meomi

The Octonauts are going about their life on the Octopod, deep under the ocean, when suddenly they're attacked by a monster. They manage to stop the attack, but when the monster bursts into tears, they realise he's friendly really, and they set about trying to help him find where he belongs.

I really enjoyed the visual style of The Octonauts. There's a cutesy, cartoon style to it, but it's not sickly like Hello Kitty. Meomi (real names: Vicki Wong and Michael Murphy) has designed Miga, Quatchi and Sumi (the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic mascots) which gives you an idea as to the look. It suits the animals perfectly. Each page bears poring over, particularly those when they go to the four corners of the world and the inhabitants speak their native languages.

With such a large cast of characters, it's hard to really get a feel for who each of them are. It's like reading a Mr Men book with all of them in at once, rather than one or two at a time. I couldn't really tell you the difference between Captain Barnacles, Peso Penguin or Kwazii Kitten. They all look like they're worth getting to know, but meeting the gang in one fell swoop means you don't get a chance.

Young children who are progressing to slightly more text in their picture books will enjoy The Octonauts. If the cutesiness strikes a chord with them, they'll want to try out the other books in the series, and hopefully get a better feel for the individual characters. As a standalone book, it's fine, but a little more fleshing-out wouldn't have gone amiss. My thanks to the publisher for sending it to Bookbag.

You can read more about the Octonauts at Octonauts.com. Meomi's website is at Meomi.com.

For all things oceanic, check out Shark and Lobster's Amazing Undersea Adventure by Viviane Schwarz. When you've read that, pop to the surface and enjoy The Three Little Pirates by Georgie Adams and Emily Bolam.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Octonauts and the Only Lonely Monster by Meomi at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Octonauts and the Only Lonely Monster by Meomi at Amazon.com.

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