AGNES, Getting Some Love from Kirkus (and What It's Like to Be Part of a Trend)

Agnes, ready to go out on the road!
First stop: MidSouth SCBWI
Nashville, TN

It's always a bit of a nail-biting time, waiting for reviews to come in on a new book.

Actually, there's quite a lot of nail-biting time in ye ol' book industry isn't there? Huh.

So it was with great relief and excitement that Kirkus had some lovely things to say about LOVE, AGNES: POSTCARDS FROM AN OCTOPUS. Here are a couple of my favorite bits:

"Though Latham's story is thoroughly fantastic, both author and illustrator have been respectful to this amazing creature, describing realistic behaviors and depicting her relatively accurately, right down to the rectangular pupils of her eyes and her senescent color change."


"Certainly the most engaging of the recent wave of octopus stories, for reading aloud or reading alone."

Read the entire review here. Truly, Thea Baker did an amazing job with the illustrations! 

As for that "recent wave of octopus stories," well, as it turns out, octopus books are a trend this fall! 

And that's not all: there's an octopus named Inky who's so popular that he's got THREE books to go along with his three hearts! (I think Inky and Agnes would be great friends... if octopuses were friends with each other. Ha!)

Inky's Amazing Escape
by Sy Montgomery,
illus. by Amy Schimler-Safford

Inky the Octopus
by Erin Guendelsberger,
illus. by David Leonard

Inky's Great Escape
by Casey Lyall,
illus. by Sebastia Serra

And how does Agnes feel about all these octopus books? Well, she may not be the smartest octopus in the sea, but she's sure there's plenty of room in the sea for all of them -- and more! After all, these books are never just about octopuses... all nonfiction tells something personal about the author, too. Just ask Melissa Stewart, who talks about this in an amazing blog post that also includes a great quote from another nonfiction/poetry luminary, Laura Purdie Salas.

Octopuses are quite amazing creatures, and Agnes is already plotting ways she might send postcards to some of these new friends...  I'll keep you posted! Meanwhile, happy reading!