books:

	Cowboy and Octopus Jon Scieszka Viking Juvenile, 2007 - 40 pages average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Illustrated in funky, vintage-style cut-outs and told in several humorous mini-stories, the famous Stinky Cheese Man duo of Scieszka and Smith have created sweet?and of course hilarious?tales of an unlikely friendship.

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Hilarious

I love Jon Scieszka's books--we have most of them on my kids' book shelf--but this one is by far my favorite. I think it is the perfect mixture of simplicity, good underlying messeges about friendship, and humor that an adult can appreciate. My daughter loves it too. Lane Smith's illustrations are also fun and unique. Good job, Jon and Lane! Keep them coming!


The art is brilliant

There are so many books at the library, that many times, I just grab books for my sons based on the covers. I am so glad I did this with this book. I love the art and the concept - cut-outs and paper art. You can even see the "sticky tape" on the front cover. The pages are rich and the colors are gorgeous. This is definitely a great book for a gift.
The book is divided into very short stories. The stories are hilarious - my 3 and 5 yo sons made me read it 3 times the first time. My 5 yo got the joke in "Help" when I didn't! Like other reviewers, I intend to buy Cowboy and Octopus for our collection.

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Love the book

We took it out from the library and, like a previous poster, will be purchasing it soon.

If I had to sum up this book in one word, that word would almost certainly have to be "quirky". Not a word I like, but an excellent description of this book :)

The book is a series of very short stories about two paper cut-outs, a cowboy and an octopus. (Boy, you weren't expecting that, were you?) Mostly, the vignettes are just pure silliness, but there's an element of "What does it mean to be a friend" in many of them as well.

Most of the jokes aren't going to take an adult by surprise (or, for that matter, a lot of little kids), but they set-up and illustrations still combine to make them really, inexplicably funny.

I fully recommend this book to anybody who has a five year old, will have a five year old, once had a five year old, or has ever come within 1000 feet of a five year old.

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My daughter loves it

My 6-year-old daughter loves this book. Like Cowboy, she also doesn't quite "get" knock-knock jokes but thinks that lettuce knocking on a door is funny.


Unlikely Friends

Reviewed by Grace Schaefer (age 7) for Reader Views (8/08)

In "Cowboy & Octopus," the main characters of the book are Cowboy and Octopus. This is the story of how they met and became friends. Even though they don't get along very well, they know it is important to have a friend.

There are 7 chapters in "Cowboy & Octopus" which makes for easy reading for early readers aged 6 to 8-years-old. The recycled pictures are my favorite part. They are funny and weird to look at.

One of the other parts of the book that I really like is the chapter called `Very Scary.' The Octopus makes a great tooth fairy and Cowboy thinks Octopus is very scary. I also like the knock-knock joke but Cowboy doesn't understand it.

Overall I did like "Cowboy & Octopus" because of the silly stories and interesting pictures. I don't like the `dang' part. It is inappropriate. I recommend leaving that word out of the book.

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reviews: page 1, 2

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