Customer Reviews

Otto's Orange Day (Toon)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Possibly the most frustrating situation I encounter in my work as a school librarian is when I run into the one track kid. These youngsters have a genre/subject that must be present in the books they read. Scary books, truck books, princess books, funny books - the list goes on. I usually do my best to find some titles in their topic of choice, but this type of reader can be picky. "Otto's Orange Day" is for every kid who is set in their ways and could use a nudge toward a broadening of horizons. Buy two copies - it's a page-turner that beginning readers will likely wear out from dangerously high levels of enjoyment.

Otto (a cat) has a favorite color - orange. If he had his druthers, the whole world would be one big orange explosion. One day Otto receives an orange oil lamp from his Aunt, and a genie appears to grant his wish. Just like that, everything is tangerine. It starts out great, but Otto soon learns that some things are better off in full color. Food, for instance. And traffic lights, they are different colors for a reason. It's also handy to be able to describe someone as something other than orange, especially if said person is a fugitive from the law. Pretty quick, our hero is a bit spooked and looking for ways to change things back to the good ol' days of brown colored lamb chops. That task proves to be difficult, since the genie only grants one wish. Otto must use his wits to bring back the Technicolor.

The illustrations are suitably cartoonish in style, with heavy outlines and vibrant colors. The dialog is spoken using word bubbles. As for the way the book is put together, much love to Françoise Mouly. I dig the design. I'm always a sucker for paper on board covers. The title has this cool floating effect that I like. The cover art shows glimpses of panels, letting the reader know that they're about to read a comic-style book. In other words, it looks like fun. This is one that kids will be drawn to and proud to carry.

Having read a few of the new TOON Book releases, I'll concur with the masses of critics that have already weighed in on the subject by saying that "Otto's Orange Day" and its kin are going to make a lasting impact on young readers.

"Otto's Orange Day" is a rare treat -- geared towards young readers, the book offers simple vocabulary and stunning graphics to keep kids engaged and, more importantly, pleased with their reading experience. I gave the book to my 7 year old cousin for his birthday, and he LOVED it -- the combo of comic book pleasure reading and fun, rhyming vocabulary was perfect for him. And, he completely understood the moral of the story. This book would be a fantastic gift for any young reader (and any parent yearning for beautiful presentation to accompany nightly readings).

I have had the privilege of seeing advance copies of all of the new Toon Book titles, and I must say they are exactly what I have been waiting for.My five year old son is fascinated by comics, but I've had a difficult time finding any that are age-appropriate. I've had to resort to ordering vintage comics from the 50s and 60s online.

"Otto's Orange Day" is great fun! Josh loves the colors, the internal rhymes, and the playful layouts. He feels that he's reading "grown-up" books. Already, he has remembered certain words and wants us to read it together every day.As a comic lover myself, I find that this book is fun for the both of us. Highly recommended! More, please!

Written at the AR 2.1 level (accelerated reading), "Otto's Orange Day" is going to be perfect for those children that are reading at and above age-level. The story is 'cute' and without anything objectionable. It even teaches a couple of lessons.

The story is that Otto (a cat) loves the color Orange. And when his aunt sends him a gift, which turns out to be a magic lamp, he takes the opportunity of using his single wish to ask that everything is made Orange. Chaos ensues, of course, and Otto, and young readers, find out that 'you should be careful what you wish for'.

The drawings are bright and cartoon-y and little-kid-friendly. There's actually quite a bit of text at 988 words but children probably won't notice because of the artwork.

THE SKINNY:::
The whole package is suitable for younger children -- art, story and text. I'd say given my 8 yo's response that his age is at the top of the range for this one.

It's written at the 2.1 AR level, the material is arranged in short chapters.

The story teaches a couple of lessons. To be careful what you wish for, and that people have expectations about color foods should be. (I know. I made a blue cake once and no one would eat it. In this story it was blue pizza that offended)

Pam T~
mom/#kidlit blogger

At seven, my son is a good reader, much of which I owe to books like Otto's Orange Day.

The dilemma is familiar to many parents of boys: beginning reader books about puppies, kittens, helping Mommy, and making friends are BORING. My son loved being read to, but he wanted stories that were exciting, fun, and full of adventure. We made weekly trips to the library, were willing to shell out significant amounts of money at the bookstore, anything to get our son past the beginning reader stage to the early chapter books stage.

A lot of bargaining went on: "Look, son, just read this boring book about Biscuit taking a bath and I'll give you a piece of candy." Or: "We'll read two chapters of BeastQuest if you'll just read three pages of this Level 1-2 book about dolphins." Children these days are sophisticated consumers: if they've watched Planet Earth and can follow a well-plotted television program, why are they going to want to read a beginning-level book about bunnies making friends? Sure, he had the aptitude to read, but it was becoming a CHORE, and we needed it to be a FUN experience.

So, what was our salvation? 1. Humorous books. There are very few beginning reader books with any sense of excitement, but there are several with humor--sophisticated, silly humor that kids respond to. I was desperate; I would've bought him a dozen books about farts if he would read them. Thank God it didn't come to that (of course that may just be because I never encountered any). 2. Books with sequential illustrations (comic books). If half the story is told through pictures, a child can glean meaning through visual context, and can actually read more challenging words. If there's a picture of a genie in the book, he's more likely to guess that G-E-N-I-E spells "genie." But if he sees a sequence of actions portrayed, he'll be able to understand even more. 3. Persistence. I didn't find many fun and exciting books on his level, but there are a few gems out there. Otto's Orange Day is one of them.

Otto's Orange Day is the very first book that my son sat down to read, by himself, when it wasn't "assigned" reading time. One day after buying it (along with a large stack of more expensive books) during his kindergarten book fair, I came to check on him (he was too quiet!) and found him reading the story to himself, aloud, and laughing. He was excited; he had to read it to me a second time; then he wanted me to read one voice while he acted out the other voices. Needless to say, I was thrilled. The kicker came the following fall when I heard him recommending the book to his friends at the book fair. He kept saying it was a great book, one of his favorites, that they should buy it, it's so funny. We bought a copy of the book for his classroom, recommended it to school and public libraries, and continue to enthusiastically recommend it. Less than two years later, my son reads his library books in the car on the way home from school and is excited about picking out books for himself.

I can't recommend this book more highly. There are many books that appeal to adults, that we feel children SHOULD like. This is one they actually DO like.

The story is a simple delight and can be very simply summed up as Otto loves orange, gets a magic lamp from his Aunt and makes his wish for everything to be orange. But after initial delight Otto discovers that not everything works if it's orange and tries to get his genie to put things back.

And that paragraph above, whilst carefully summing up the story, singularly fails to get over the idea and the joy of the book. Just like all Toon Books, there's a glorious sense of excitement and sheer fun to each simply crafted, expertly realised page.

Children will love the story, of the control, the wish-fulfillment and the discovery of the prolems of an orange world (Orange lamb chops? All orange traffic lights?) and the subsequent solution to the age old problem of one wish per owner of the magical lamp (sell it to his Aunt; new owner equals new wish - simple!). The language used is wonderful, particularly during Otto's excited rush around his newly orange world, where all of the dialogue rhymes. Otto's Orange Day will be lots of fun for a new reader and was great fun to read aloud. What a great bedtime story.

What strikes me most about this Toon title is the wonderful personality in its pages. The lively, believable characters come to life in the comic. My children love this book and it's difficult find books my children will actually ASK to read again and again. Our beautiful, orange novel is already showing some wear because of how frequently it is taken off the shelf-- I may have to order another!

My not-quite-6 y o is learning to read and finding material he's willing to attempt has been difficult. While he cannot yet read this book entirely on his own, we snuggle up and alternate reading...and he does so enthusiastically because he wants to know what happens next to Otto throughout this wacky adventure.

This time around I'm reviewing the first three books published in this series of graphic novels for emergent readers. The struggling reader (8yo) enjoyed the others so much we went out and bought the first three. So he has now read the entire line of Toon Books and anxiously awaits the publication of the next set.

This book is the highest reading level of the first three books in this series falling into approx. a RL of 3-4. My struggling reader had a hard time with this one and took it slowly but the story was so much fun that he didn't want to not read the book. So with a little bit more help from Mum than usually he worked his way through the book in about a week and a half. Adorable story of a boy who loves orange and when he receives a lamp that just happens to contain a Genie he is given one wish. Otto's wish is that everything should be orange. Otto soon learns that you should be careful what you wish for when cars can't tell what colour the traffic lights are and a robber on the loose has a description of everybody else, orange wearing orange clothes! Great story that will keep even reluctant readers turning the pages.

Highly recommend any one of the 8 books in this series published so far.

They are around 30-odd pages each.

Another TOON Book with a lesson for children and adults of all ages. Otto wishes everything to be his favorite color: orange. Soon he learns that color and variety are not only necessary, but as showcased by the last few pages- much more vibrant and exciting.

The characters are likable and easy to relate to. All Otto's expressions are easy to read, the interplay of the text and images really work to help children best utilize the comic format.