Dive Into the Strangely Wonderful World of an Octopus in Deborah Kerbel's Newest Picturebook

Prolific children's author Deborah Kerbel has written a number of picture books for young people, and this time she takes them to the deep blue to explore the fascinating life of an Octopus. 

In her latest work, What About an Octopus? (Owlkids Books), a curious girl is on the beach searching for shells when she comes about a new eight-armed friend. This leads to an afternoon of play and discovery, where she learns about all kinds of weird and wonderful things that an Octopus can do, and how they are like us in many ways, and definitively unique in others. 

Throughout this story, there are neat, fun-to-read sidebars and share this Octopus knowledge while vibrant, movement-filled illustrations by Dawn Lo capture the world of this underwater creature and her new pal. 

We've got a special Dirty Dozen Interview with the author today on Open Book, where she shares 12 interesting facts about herself that may surprise and delight her readers!

I was born in a future police station. The building that is now ‘Charing Cross Police Station’ was an historic London hospital for 150 years – it was converted into a police station a few years after I was born.

My late sister, Kim, named me. Born profoundly deaf, she was five years old and just beginning to learn how to speak when I came along. From the list of names my parents had compiled, ‘Deborah’ was the easiest one for her to say. 

I love listening to opera and the only thing that gets me through the yearly chore of compiling tax receipts is to play (and sing along with at the top of my lungs) Bizet’s Carmen. I know all the lyrics by heart.

I am a quarter each of French, Scottish, Welsh, and Mexican ancestry. 

I share my home with an 11 year-old rescue Schnoodle named Alfredo.

In my teens, a friend once nicknamed me ‘Deborah-Never-Early’. (Still accurate to this day!)

I have zero instinct for rights and lefts unless I find myself in the driver’s seat of a car. 

I’m an accomplished omelette chef (according to my kids).

I have a compulsive need to fix things. Whether it’s a half-completed jigsaw puzzle, a wobbly table leg, or an-off kilter painting. When I visit friends’ homes, I secretly tighten all their loose drawer knobs. 

Apropos of #9, my wonderful husband gave me a tool kit for my 30th birthday.

I’m a self-diagnosed misophonic and noise-cancelling earbuds are my daily salvation. (This also might explain why I can only write in silent spaces.)

My favourite food is fried zucchini flowers. My second favourite food used to be octopus…until the day I began the process of researching and writing What About an Octopus?

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Deborah Kerbel is an award-winning author who writes picture books, middle grade, and YA novels. Her recent books include Fred & Marjorie, Whirl, This House Is Home, and When Molly Drew Dogs. Deborah lives and writes in Thornhill, Ontario, with her husband, two teens, and a rescue schnoodle named Freddie.

Born in Hong Kong, Dawn Lo is an illustrator currently based in Vancouver, the unceded lands of the Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. In addition to illustrating picture books, her work has appeared on stationery, greeting cards, public art installations, murals, and more.