The Soul of an Octopus

The Soul of an Octopus
Author: Sy Montgomery
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2016-07-12
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1501161148

Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction * New York Times Bestseller * A Huffington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year * One of the Best Books of the Month on Goodreads * Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book of the Year * An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year “Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus does for the creature what Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk did for raptors.” —New Statesman, UK “One of the best science books of the year.” —Science Friday, NPR Another New York Times bestseller from the author of The Good Good Pig, this “fascinating…touching…informative…entertaining” (The Daily Beast) book explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans. In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food. Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.

The Benefits of Being an Octopus

The Benefits of Being an Octopus
Author: Ann Braden
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2018-09-18
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1510737529

Edutopia's "25 Essential Middle School Reads from the Last Decade," NPR Best Book of 2018, Bank Street List for Best Children's Books of 2019, Named to the Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher List, Maine's Student Book Award List, Louisiana Young Reader's Choice Award List, Rhode Island Middle School Book Award 2020 List, 2020 Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award Nominee, 2021 South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee, 2020-2021 Truman Award​ (Missouri) Nominee, Middle School Virginia Readers’ Choice Titles for 2020–2021​, Charlie May Simon Award 2020–2021 List, South Carolina Book Awards Nominee, 2020–2021, and 2023 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award nominee​. Some people can do their homework. Some people get to have crushes on boys. Some people have other things they've got to do. Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there's Lenny, her mom's boyfriend—they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer. At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend Fuchsia has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it's best if no one notices them. Zoey thinks how much easier everything would be if she were an octopus: eight arms to do eight things at once. Incredible camouflage ability and steady, unblinking vision. Powerful protective defenses. Unfortunately, she's not totally invisible, and one of her teachers forces her to join the debate club. Even though Zoey resists participating, debate ultimately leads her to see things in a new way: her mom’s relationship with Lenny, Fuchsia's situation, and her own place in this town of people who think they're better than her. Can Zoey find the courage to speak up, even if it means risking the most stable home she's ever had? This moving debut novel explores the cultural divides around class and the gun debate through the eyes of one girl, living on the edges of society, trying to find her way forward.

Squid and Octopus

Squid and Octopus
Author: Tao Nyeu
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 46
Release: 2012
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0803735650

Four separate stories celebrate the many-legged friendship between Squid and Octopus as they disagree over how to stay warm, encourage each other, and fret over the contents of a fortune cookie. Full color.

Wiggle!

Wiggle!
Author: Harriet Ziefert
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Animal locomotion
ISBN: 9781609050726

Colorful illustrations and rhyming text on board pages encourage young readers to waddle, wiggle, and sway like the creatures of the ocean.

My Very Own Octopus

My Very Own Octopus
Author: Bernard Most
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 44
Release: 1991
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780152563455

Bursting with fun and imaginative details, this is a story of a little boy who fantasizes about the amusing and practical possibilities of owning a pet octopus.

Tickly Octopus

Tickly Octopus
Author: Ruth Galloway
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Total Pages: 19
Release: 2018-09-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1680109103

Eight twisty, twirly arms make Octopus really good at tickling. But most of his friends are beginning to find his tickling tiresome, especially when one teeny, tiny tickle lands Octopus in BIG trouble! Octopus tickles Oyster and causes her to lose her precious pearl. How will Octopus get it back?

The Octopus Scientists

The Octopus Scientists
Author: Sy Montgomery
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 85
Release: 2015
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0544232704

Looks at the work of renowned octopus scientist Jennifer Mather and a team of researchers on the island of Moorea, where they work to learn more about octopuses and their behavior.

Octopus Shocktopus!

Octopus Shocktopus!
Author: Peter Bently
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2022-08-23
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1536223964

"Charmingly silly...features bouncy, rhyming text that will enchant readers." —Kirkus Reviews An octopus falls from the sky one day. It lands on a roof and there it stays. The village’s children quickly make friends with it, even though the adults are wary. But the octopus proves very handy indeed, making a perfect slide, helping out with some painting, and even rescuing a cat stuck in a tree. But just when all the neighbors decide they want an octopus of their very own, it disappears. Where has it gone and will it come back?

Love, Agnes

Love, Agnes
Author: Irene Latham
Publisher: Millbrook Press
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2018
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1512439932

In California, Agnes, a giant Pacific octopus, pens a series of postcards to strangers from both above and below the pier.

Roof Octopus

Roof Octopus
Author: Lucy Branam
Publisher: Triangle Interactive, Inc.
Total Pages: 38
Release: 2019-01-16
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1684520088

Read Along or Enhanced eBook: When Nora hears a soft "tap, tap, tap" at her bedroom window she never expects it to be the tentacle of a very large octopus, but that's exactly what it is--an octopus on her apartment building. The octopus turns out to be a very neighborly sort of octopus, helping the residents to wash their cars or weed the window boxes, and Nora makes fast friends with him. But one morning, the octopus is nowhere in sight. Has he moved on already? And just when Nora wanted to bring him for Show and Tell!