Brief summary
As a young child growing up with Asperger’s Syndrome, Leo can find the world to be a stressful, lonely place. We follow Leo’s journey as he begins a heart-warming friendship with an octopus named Maya.
My comments
What a wonderful book. Isabelle Marinov handles autism with incredible sensitivity, whilst somehow also conveying so much about what it’s like to see the world through the eyes of a child who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Both Leo and Maya are fully developed characters, and their blossoming relationship is a joy to read.
Through Leo, Isabelle Marinov provides the reader with many facts about octopuses, and we learn about them as he does. I found the information so interesting that I ended up watching My Octopus Teacher! I can certainly see how Leo was fascinated by Maya, and I believe that children of all ages reading this book will be too, making this a great book to read alongside an ocean-based or environmental topic.
Leo knew exactly how Maya felt. Sometimes he wished he could squirt water at all the things that annoyed him to make them disappear.
Isabelle Marinov
Photos of this book really don’t do it justice; the front and back covers have a brilliantly fluorescent orange that jumps off the page. Turning the pages, each illustration by Chris Nixon looks like a separate piece of modern art, with vibrant colour palettes that fill out to the edges and work in unison with the story. This is a book that children will naturally gravitate towards and would make a great addition to every class library.
Class comments
Before I even had a chance to put this book on display in my class library, children were asking me about it. There’s just something about the fluorescent orange that really gets them!
Themes
- The nature and value of friendship.
- Overcoming personal barriers.
- The importance of not judging a book by its cover.
Curricular links
- Autism, especially Asperger’s Syndrome (health and wellbeing).
- Cephalopods, especially octopuses (science).
Points to consider in class
- This book doesn’t contain anything that would be an issue in class.
