Also an Octopus

A 2017 Parent's Choice Gold Award Winner: Picture Books

Even the most totally awesome story starts with a little bit of nothing. What happens next is up to you! A delightfully meta picture book that will set imaginations soaring.

It begins with an octopus who plays the ukulele. Since this is a story, the octopus has to want something—maybe to travel to faraway galaxies in a totally awesome purple spaceship. Then the octopus sets out to build a spaceship out of soda cans, glue, umbrellas, glitter, and waffles. OK, maybe the octopus needs some help, like from an adorable bunny friend, and maybe that bunny turns out to be . . . a rocket scientist? (Probably not.) But could something even more amazing come to pass? Debut author Maggie Tokuda-Hall, with the help of illustrator Benji Davies, sets up an endearingly funny story, then hands the baton to readers, who will be more than primed to take it away.

Maggie Tokuda-Hall has an MFA in writing from the University of San Francisco and a tendency to spill things. As a longtime children’s bookseller she has read her fair share of stories, and she is always hungry for more. Her favorite animal is an octopus, or else an elephant. Maggie Tokuda-Hall lives in San Francisco.

Benji Davies is the award-winning author-illustrator of many books for children, including the Bizzy Bear series. Benji Davies lives in London.