photo by Mike Baird www.flickr.com
Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com
Contemporary picture book for preK-1st graders
Little Otter as main character
Rating: Preschool and young elementary children will really understand the way Little Otter feels in this book. And I just love Hoyt’s illustrations. This team is a dynamic duo!
Short, short summary: Little Otter is having an utterly otterly day, of course. What does this mean? It means he is having an adventure on his own. He is big enough to do many of the things he has been waiting to do his whole life, but he was too small to do them. This is all fine and dandy until he meets an animal that would like to have Little Otter for supper. Find out how Little Otter can still be an individual with this family to help him along the way!
So, what can I do with this book?
1. You can have a discussion with your child or your students about what parents mean when they say, “Stay close.” Why do parents say these types of things to their children? Ask students to talk about when it is important to stay close to their parents, like at an amusement park or the grocery store, and when it is okay to be by themselves for a while (like in their backyards). Ask students to draw a picture of your discussion, and write a sentence to go with the picture. For example, students could draw themselves on their swingsets without parents, and then on the other half of the paper, draw themselves at the zoo, holding their parents’ hands.
2. This book has a lot of fun read aloud parts for a shared reading experience. Even the title–Utterly Otterly Day, along with all the sound effect words that Casanova has included in the text. Read this book more than one time with your students and have them repeat with you the fun, playful text!
3. This book shows the habitat of an otter. You can use this book to talk about a river habitat and the animals and plants that live in it. You can also talk to your students or your child about otters and if they think they would see an otter in their backyards. Some children have probably seen otters at the zoo or at aquariums. Let them share these experiences with you.
If you have used this book with your students or your children, please leave a comment here and let us know how it went!
