Septopus by Rebecca Fung. Illus. by Kathy Creamer

When Stanley is born with seven tentacles instead of eight his octopus parents become overprotective of him, believing that his abnormality is a disability. He has regular visits to the doctor and is not encouraged to play like his siblings. For Stanley seven tentacles is normal for him and he just wants to get on with his normal life but he is bullied, teased and left out of activities by his siblings Oswald, Odete and Orion. Oswald even uses Stanley as a ball to practise Octoball and hurts him, so Stanley takes vengeance on the Ball Brutes, Oswald’s team, in a complicated plan involving sea snakes. When his siblings are invited to a party and he is not allowed to go Stanley remembers the story of Octorella who wasn’t allowed to go the ball. He hasn’t a fairy godmother so sneaks along in an outfit he modifies for himself and there he meets Olympia his first friend, who also just wants to be normal, not just the girl from a rich family. Stanley finds life gets better when he is allowed to go to school but there he still has to contend with bullying, ‘even though you get used to others being mean it still hurts” p132. When the whole school is threatened by a shark Stanley’s life changes dramatically and the extra attention is not quite what he had hoped for.

Nicely produced with quality paper and interspersed with illustrations by Kathy Creamer, the first person narrative is reflective and character driven. Septopus’ indeterminate age could be hard to relate to and the lack of action early in the book with quite dense text might discourage some readers. Be true to yourself, is a good message and Stanley’s difficult life does get better so ultimately a hopeful book.

Themes: Disability, Bullying, Friendship, Sea life.

Sue Speck