When Otis Courted Mama

by Kathi Appelt, Jill McElmurry (Illustrator)

Overview

Apart from sticker burrs and sand fleas, Cardell’s life is mostly wonderful. He knows he’s loved through and through by his perfectly good mama and his perfectly good daddy. They live in different parts of the desert, but that’s okay—Cardell is mostly used to it. Then Otis comes calling, and Cardell feels a grrr form in his throat. Otis can’t make jalapeño flapjacks or play Zig-the-Zag anything like Cardell’s daddy. And so Cardell waits for Mama to say "Adiós, Otis." But what will happen if she doesn’t?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780152166885
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/06/2015
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Kathi Appelt is the author of many books for children and young adults, including When Otis Courted Mama, illustrated by Jill McElmurry; Oh My Baby, Little One, illustrated by Jane Dyer; and the story collection Kissing Tennessee. Her novel The Underneath was a Newbery Honor book and a National Book Award finalist. She lives in Texas.

Jill McElmurry was the illustrator of many picture books, including her own Mad About Plaid, When Otis Courted Mama by Kathi Appelt and the best-selling Little Blue Truck series, written by Alice Schertle. She happily divided her time between the wide landscape of New Mexico and a green island in Minnesota. Jill passed away in August 2017.

Editorial Reviews

11/03/2014
Though the anthropomorphic coyotes in this well-matched collaboration are anything but wily, Appelt (The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp) takes a canny approach to the topic of accepting a stepparent. With tactical repetition, the narrator emphasizes that young Cardell has a “mostly wonderful life” with a “perfectly good mama and a perfectly good daddy,” even though his father lives across the desert with Cardell’s stepmother and stepbrother. Cardell’s mother has had her share of suitors, but none were up to snuff (one slobbered, another was conceited). Charming new neighbor Otis interrupts that pattern, and Cardell isn’t happy about it: “His fur bristled. His ears lay back. His GRRR... got louder. He put Otis on notice.” Affecting scenes reveal how Otis gradually wins over Cardell with kindness, persistence, and a knack for pouncing and storytelling, among other talents. McElmurry’s (the Little Blue Truck series) gouache illustrations revel in the desert setting, her homey paintings evoking the look of weather-beaten folk art while contributing to the story’s overall humor and sweetness. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. Illustrator’s agent: Marcia Wernick, Wernick & Pratt Agency. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

* "This excellent take on modern, blended families melds a believable, resonant story arc and winsome, child-appealing illustrations." —Kirkus, starred review "McElmurry's...gouache illustrations revel in the desert setting, her homey paintings evoking the look of weather-beaten folk art while contributing to the story's overall humor and sweetness." —Publishers Weekly "Like Otis, Appelt is a gifted storyteller, and families whose circumstances echo Cardell’s will welcome this gentle story, which is nicely augmented by illustrator McElmurry’s gouache pictures, with their vivid desert colors." —Booklist * "Well, like Otis, this exquisitely told tale is a welcome addition to any collection." —School Library Journal, starred review "Author and illustrator deliver on both substance and humor, capturing childlike emotions and conveying them in witty, comforting prose and in accompanying pictures of coyotes in bandanas and ten-gallon hats...With a sympathetic and charming main character, this story will be particularly relevant for a child with a blended family." —Bulletin   —

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2015
PreS-Gr 3—Set in the southwestern desert, this adorable, humble tale of how a young coyote copes with divorced parents will win children's hearts. The cadence of the story, with its soothing repetition, balances the new dual-home reality of so many children today with the old comfort of Home where a child feels "loved through and through." The beautifully toned gouache brushwork and large swatches of color are reminiscent of Rothko's work on one page while evoking classic Golden Book aesthetics on the next. White stands out like the stars in the desert night, and the eyelashes of these coyotes are long and lush or their cheeks blush. Cardell loves his daddy who can sing and play and cook jalapeño flapjacks like no other, but he has to share his "perfectly good daddy" with a stepmother and a baby stepbrother. He loves his "perfectly good mama," but not the series of suitors that come a-courtin' but are soon sent away. Then Otis arrives, and he makes Cardell feel "a grrr form in his throat." He expects his mother to say, "We can do without Otis…but "Adiós, Otis" never came." The complicated feelings of a child who must accept a new stepparent are woefully underrepresented in children's literature. Turns out that Otis can spin a pretty good yarn that "settled on Cardell's fur like a warm blanket. Even the moon seemed to smile." Well, like Otis, this exquisitely told tale is a welcome addition to any collection.—Sara Lissa Paulson, The American Sign Language and English Lower School, New York City

School Library Journal

★ 2014-10-22
Coyote pup Cardell is perfectly happy with his parents. He lives in a cozy adobe cottage with his artist mom and visits his dad across the desert, sharing him with his stepmother and stepbrother. When Otis comes a-courting his mother, Cardell is resentful. Mama has had other suitors, and she and Cardell had agreed on each gent's flaws. Cardell presumes that Mama will similarly dispatch Otis and growls at the persistent suitor. Otis can't make jalapeño pancakes like Cardell's dad, and "his howl sounded like he had rocks in the back of his throat." Otis does have his own talents, however, and he knows that Cardell is "one tough little hombre." Gradually, he wins the pup over with his delicious prickly-pear pudding, exceptional pouncing skills and hilarious stories. "Cardell's grrr…got softer and softer until it disappeared altogether." By the time, a "few moons later," Otis proposes to Mama, Cardell and he are aligned, awaiting her answer in matching 10-gallon hats. Appelt's telling sparkles. She expertly foreshadows the realistic conflict between Cardell and Otis by depicting the young coyote's secure relationships with both his parents. McElmurry's delightful gouache paintings depict a stylized desert Southwest. These coyotes often walk upright; they paint, dance, make music and fully embrace life. This excellent take on modern, blended families melds a believable, resonant story arc and winsome, child-appealing illustrations. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews