Today’s Perfect Picture Book Friday pick is…

HOW THE SQUID GOT TWO LONG ARMS.

Written by: Henry Herz

Illustrated by: Luke Graber

Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. (September 2018)

Suitable for ages: 3-8

Themes/Topics: greed, ocean animals, pourquoi story

Brief Synopsis: In this pourquoi tale, Herz tells the story of how the squid, who once had 10 arms “all of equal length”, ended up with 2 long arms. A shivering squid, one scarf, and the need to stay warm in the cool ocean water set this tale in motion. When the squid steals clothes from other animals, he ends up learning a lesson, “if you do bad things, bad things will happen to you.”

Why I like this book: A fun read to help kids think twice about greed! Luke Graber’s illustrations are bold, expressive, and the details are hilarious. Herz weaves in ocean vocabulary throughout the story and includes information about squid in the back matter. Elementary teachers will be able to use the story as supplemental reading in a science lesson related to ocean animals.

Herz gives credit Jon Klassen’s THIS IS NOT MY HAT for the last spread. No spoilers here…read it to find out what happens.

I read the digital ARC for this review, the book release date is September 4, 2018.

Resources:

• Squid coloring pages. There’s a vampire squid!

• More coloring pages of squid and other underwater creatures.

• Squids for kids on Pinterest includes squid crafts and science activities.

• How to write a Pourquoi Tale.

• A great story to pair with another book by Herz, THE LITTLE RED CUTTLEFISH. See my review from 2016.

To read lots more Perfect Picture Book Friday reviews visit author Susanna Hill’s blog.

Happy reading!