Narwhal's Otter Friend (A Narwhal and Jelly book, #4)

by Ben Clanton

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Narwhal's Otter Friend is the 4th book featuring the charming and delightful Narwhal and Jelly. Written and illustrated by Ben Clanton, it has an estimated release date in early Feb 2019. It's fully illustrated in graphic novel style, 64 pages with easily read text, and available in hardcover format. The story is adorable and certainly familiar to almost every kid. What happens when your best friend makes another new friend? Of course Jelly's jealous when Narwhal meets Otter! That's huge stuff when you're 5 years old (or in some cases, considerably older)! I like that there's an intermission roughly in the middle of the book with a lot of cool factoids about real life otters and jellyfish. There's also a couple page long story toward the end of the book (as in the previous books) illustrated in a very different style to differentiate it which reminded me of a similar technique Dav Pilkey uses for cutaway stories inside of his books (as the main characters drawing or telling another story inside the main story).

It's just such an exuberant book. The illustrations are wonderful and the story itself is a lot deeper and more meaningful than the happy bouncy surface would imply. I think this book (and indeed the other books in this series) would make worthwhile reading group or classroom reads for younger readers. The characters are so relatable and real and the fact that they're anthropomorphic makes them more accessible. There is jealousy, conflict, and resolution and all are presented in a way that is understandable and non-threatening to a young reader.

This would be a superlative pick for a library read also.

I am a huge fan!

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.