The Octopus

With velvety, dimensional digital illustrations arranged in wordless panels, Guojing (The House That Floated) crafts a context-building outing that inspires environmental stewardship. While beachcombing with a caretaker, a pale-skinned, dark-haired child wearing a shell pendant spots a tiny orange octopus, its arms entangled in plastic six-pack rings. The child carefully separates the two and returns the creature to the sea, and the little octopus repays the child’s kindness with an act of enchantment: touching the pendant with one of its arms, it shrinks the child to its own tiny size, and they dive into the turquoise depths together. Their underwater journey—the two marvel at a huge manta ray, a cloud of sparkling jellyfish, and more—takes a sobering turn when the child sees a sea turtle become enmeshed in a plastic bag, and realizes the dangers that waste poses to the entire ocean. Returned to the shore and to size, the youth considers where to deposit the shell pendant, the plastic bag, and other findings. A low-key shore visit leads to the making of a new guardian in this cinematic adventure of earth and sea. An author’s note and fun facts conclude. Ages up to 7. Agent: Isabel Atherton, Creative Authors. (Apr.)