I recently decorated my bathroom with pictures of sea monsters. One of the pictures is of a Kraken preparing to attack a sailing vessel. Turns out my nephew is terrified of octopuses, and my Kraken picture does not exactly leave him feeling encouraged to visit the bathroom! Obviously, this is not an ideal situation!I don't want my nephew to fear octopuses. They are gentle, shy, curious, intelligent creatures, and they do not, as he believes, "eat people's heads." I am hoping that educating him about the true nature of the octopus will help him put this fear to rest (and I'll take down my Kraken picture when he's visiting).
I don't know if Gentle Giant Octopus has completely wiped away his fear of octopuses, but I think it did make him look at this creature in a new light, at least. He was curious about the octopus featured in this book, and he was rooting for her to find a good den in which to lay her eggs. It's a start--he wasn't covering his eyes in terror.
The book was well written and wonderfully illustrated, and it was entertainingly educational. My niece loved the book (she loves sea creatures anyway), and I was pleased with the way the octopus was presented in this book. This was a good beginning to my planned "fear not the octopus" readings.