Otto Blotter, Bird Spotter

by Graham Carter, Graham Carter (Illustrator)

Overview

The Blotter family are famous bird spotters, who stay in their hideout all day. All except for Otto—he'd rather go out and have big adventures. When he follows the BIGGEST footprints he's ever seen, he finds an extraordinary baby bird all on its own. Otto's new friend soon reveals a very special ability: camouflage! But the bird keeps growing and growing, and Otto begins to suspect it may have a family after all . . . perhaps the time has come to take him home?

Keen-eyed readers may spot the bird's giant family hidden on the pages, if they're good enough bird spotters!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541577626
Publisher:	Andersen Press USA
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.58(h) x (d)
Age Range:	7 - 8 Years

About the Author

Graham Carter is a printmaker who is stepping into the world of picture books. His illustrations can be spotted in publications such as The New Scientist, The Guardian, and The Sunday Times. He lives in England.

Graham Carter is a printmaker who is stepping into the world of picture books. His illustrations can be spotted in publications such as The New Scientist, The Guardian, and The Sunday Times. He lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

"Carter offers pictures in varying sizes with intricate details that may spark an interest in a heretofore unknown pastime."—Booklist

From the Publisher

2019-05-12
Otto belongs to a family of obsessed bird-watchers so besotted with birds that they have turned their home into an elaborate and fanciful bird blind.

Otto, however, prefers exploring the world to sitting at home in the blind. One day he finds a massive bird footprint, an even larger pile of "poo," and finally an unusual little bird, best described as a yellow blob. Otto scoops it up and keeps it at home in spite of a family ban on pets. The bird begins to grow rapidly, and Otto is unable to conceal it any longer. Oddly, the bird can camouflage its burgeoning self in any setting, and so the pair continues on its travels, unobserved by the public. When a trip to the zoo makes the bird sad, Otto realizes that it is missing its family. Constructing "the tallest bird-spotting tower ever built," Otto's family soon locates the missing bird parents, who are large yellow blobs, similar to their offspring. Bird-watching theme notwithstanding, this wacky, visually exuberant offering is not hampered by connections to the real world; although many birds, real and imaginary, are pictured, not one is ever identified. Carter's multihued illustrations have an intriguing amount of detail and make the most of varied perspectives, helping to compensate for the rather lackluster plot. Otto and his family present white.

Silly fun for fans of whimsy if not for budding bird-watchers. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews