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| Cammuso, F., & Lynch, J. (2013). Otto's backwards day: A toon book. New York: Toon Books. |
By Frank Cammuso with Jay Lynch
Published by Toon Books
New York, New York
2013
32 pages
Otto's Backwards Day is the exciting story of Otto the cat who thinks the most important things about his birthday are cake, ice cream, and presents. But suddenly, his birthday is stolen! Otto and his robot sidekick Toot follow the robber and discover a topsy-turvy backwards world where rats chase cats, trash stays on the ground, and people wear their underwear on the outside! After some interesting adventures, Otto and Toot detect a birthday - they enter a strange house and Otto realizes he is lonely without his family and friends to celebrate with and decides to go home... Purchase the book here!
Otto's Backwards Day is split into three chapters and would be great to read throughout the course of a school day - one chapter in the morning, one chapter before or after lunch, and one chapter at the end of the day. In the book, Professor Backwards explains what palindromes are and Otto finds palindromes during his adventures. Use the book to teach your class, especially if you have second or third graders, about palindromes! Some of the palindromes include:
Otto
Toot
kayak
race car
Evil Olive
radar
Star Rats
This book is a graphic novel (it is written in a comic book format) setting it apart from "normal" books. In graphic novels, the pictures are key - make sure your students can see the pictures and especially the characters' facial expressions. Explore the details in the pictures.
Explain what speech bubbles are and what they accomplish. How do you know which character is talking and when? Talk about the panels - are they long or short? What might that mean for the story?
Treat the story as a play! With more experienced readers, have students read and/or act out the various parts. Read with expression and add sound effects.
View sample pages, reviews, and educator tools here.
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