I love Chris Riddell! I read Ottoline Goes to School sometime last year, but I couldn’t introduce it to my book club because it wasn’t available in India. Less than a month ago, I learned that Ottoline and the Yellow Cat is available, so of course we must read it!
I love serious humour. I know that’s an oxymoron, but for me, it’s the kind of book that’s earnest and written in such a way that something utterly ridiculous reads like it is perfectly normal. And that’s what makes the Ottoline series delightful. Lovely pictures and a perfectly lovely story come together in this quick, beautifully illustrated story about a girl and her unusual friend. Here’s what we’ll do as we read Ottoline and the Yellow Cat at my book club.
Collections
Ottoline’s parents travel all over the world and collect all kinds of things, including masks, extremely small paintings, and portable fishbowls. Ottoline loves to look after the collections, and I think most children do! I collected perfect pencil shavings, for instance. And my sister collected tissues from restaurants. What do my book clubbers collect? Through a small Show and Tell session, we’ll find out.
Make Your Own Business Card!
I love bringing artsy activities into my book club! Lots of people who take care of Ottoline and Mr Monroe. One spread of images shows us all their business cards, so let’s make our own! What special services could we offer? What are we good at, and what would we call our business?
Maps
Ottoline’s story is full of maps, not all of which seem very useful. Nonetheless, maps are entertaining and could be fun to explore.
Can you draw a map from your front door to your room? What about a fictitious map? Can you draw one of those?
Join my book club!
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