My Friend the Octopus: from the author of Darwin's Dragons

Product Information

Having already enjoyed Darwin's Dragons, I was really impressed to find that I enjoyed this second outing even more. There he met and gradually befriended a female octopus, visiting her every day until she felt comfortable playing with him. She soon makes friends with Charlie, the aquarium keeper’s nephew, and Temitayo, the African ward of an English gentleman. In one attack upon her, the octopus loses an arm, and retreats to her den to recover, slowly regenerating the arm over three months.

But while Vinnie learns more about Ghost's personality, she also realises that she doesn't know much about the people she thought she knew best, and something strange is going on. Notes from the author at the end of the book allow the reader to learn more about some elements of the story and there is a recipe for ‘Petits Fours à thé’ which I have every intention of making when I have a moment! A gripping Victorian mystery with a touching connection between a young girl and an octopus at its heart, My Friend the Octopus effortlessly blends exciting adventure with a rip-roaring historical mystery and non-fiction elements. Vinnie, who was always close to her single mother, was suddenly left in the care of her aunt when her mother had important business in Paris.However, apart from the constant use of the term ‘devil-fish’ to describe the octopus, and the awful working conditions of the young girls who made Paris Green fabrics, I struggled to find a great deal of history in this historical fiction. I’m currently drafting my third historical animal focussed adventure which is out in 2023 — all I can say is this story features the sea once again, plus one of my favourite and most beloved animals. It flowed relatively easily, even though the plotting was more complex with various strands to the mystery. Take a look at extracts from both of Lindsay's titles below, along with brilliant chapter-by-chapter resources for Darwin's Dragons from primary teacher Scott Evans and Lindsay herself, as well as resources for My Friend the Octopus.

We see Ghost as a feeling, thoughtful creature and I – like the characters in the book – became very attached to this amazing animal. A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world. Although, I do admire the author’s attempt at bringing a more unknown side of history to her young readers, what with the heavy focus on Henry Lee’s book and on understanding the octopus. Author Luke Palmer introduces his new book, Play (Firefly Press) about four boys growing up together, the challenges, the friendships, and what hap. Moving to a different country, one that's never been mentioned previously, and one where they don't speak the main language.Always close to her mother, Vinnie can’t understand why she’s been so suddenly abandoned; they’ve never been apart before. What really made this book great for me is that the protagonist had to deal with the really mature choice of figuring out who is the real antagonist at the end and how to move past it and do the right thing. Vinnie is a fantastic artist always designing hats for her mother, but this changes when she is rushed off to live with her aunt. Lavinia (who prefers to be known as Vinnie) unexpectedly finds herself staying with her aunt in Brighton when her mother, a society milliner, has to leave London for Paris at very short notice.