Customer Reviews

Otto Undercover #1: Born to Drive

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a veteran learning disability specialist with L.A.U.S.D. and I picked up "Otto Undercover" to read aloud to my students. They loved the silly characters, imaginative adventures that Otto experiences, and the palindromes and other word puzzles. I am always looking for high interest books with a reasonable readability level for my students and this book has inspired some of my most reluctant readers with chapters that contain only one word in addition to chapters that are pages long. They like saying they have already read one, two, or three chapters today. I highly recommend this book for beginning independent readers and am very glad that it is a series so my students will have future books to look forward to.

Otto Pillip (palindrome extraordinaire) is a madcap, zany adventure full of funny and colorful characters, plot twists that keep you guessing, and grammatical puzzles which make reading this book a fast-paced and exciting interactive experience. Rhea Perlman gives both kids and grown-ups a great ride!

A wild race with an amazing racecar; wonderful invention of a boy hero and his two aunties, dumb villains, surprising twists, funny made-up words,anagrams and palindromes.... I could not put it down because it was so "hip," and hilarious and I wanted to KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! The illustrations really give the humorous, innocent and madcap flavor of the book. This series is going to be fantastic!

Through a friend I was able to preview a pre-publication copy of "Otto Undercover, Born to Drive" and share it with a third grade class in Brooklyn NY. It was a fantastic experience. When they weren't laughing at the wacky characters, they were begging me not to stop at each page turning chapter (or half a chapter) which is a great Perlman device. The palindromes and anagrams add an extra dimension. I just purchased 5 copies of each title to distribute the the other third grade teachers in my school. An intelligent rib-tickling way to start the New Year

For kids who find chapter books boring, this is the kind of book that makes them fun to read. Not only is this book hilarious, but it was hard to put down because the story itself was so interesting. The Aunts, to me, were really funny, especially when singing. The book is not only about palindromes, but backwards words, and anagrams as well. I enjoyed it very much, and so did my friends.

Chris M.

I was privileged to get an advance look at Rhea Perlman's book. The real pleasure was being able to share it with my 9-year-old son. We both laughed at the quirky characters, we smiled at the clever action scenes and together racked our brains to solve the wordplay games layered into the lighthearted story. It's onto the next Perlman's book for my son David and me.

My son, a reluctant reader (7 years old), enjoyed the story and writing style. He got a kick out of the unconventional chapters and asides to the reader. I thought it was a bit pedestrian, but it was not purchased for me. And the whole family did enjoy some of the longer palindromes.

I have a 7 year old and this was right up his alley! He could not wait to get to the next chapter and I would always stop at a cliffhanger so that by the next night, he could not wait to get ready for bed so he could read more! This book is full of wonderful comedy for a 7 year old! At times, my son was laughing so hard (as was I) that I would have to stop reading until we could get ourselves together! I totally recommend this to anyone who is trying to get their child to read more chapter books and get away from the picture books with short sentences!

Otto Undercover is a book about a kid who was born to drive. He drives a sports car. My favorite part is about the book is when Racecar races car 56. I recommend this book for kids 8-15.
By Alex

`Otto Undercover' is incredibly fun and funny... We love Otto's irreverence, the larger-than-life world he inhabits and the clever wordplay that's always bubbling through the story. The wordplay makes the book educational without it ever seeming that way, but as much as you find yourself talking to your kids about anagrams and palindromes, you'll spend even more time laughing with them about Otto's zany aunts and his crazy adventures. This is a great book for the early independent reader or for sharing together. OUR FAMILY CAN'T WAIT FOR THE REST OF THE SERIES!