''An Octopus Followed Me Home'' is a 1997

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

by American writer and illustrator

Dan Yaccarino Dan Yaccarino (born May 20, 1965) is an American author, illustrator, television writer, and producer, who is known for his animated series, children's books and award-winning imagery. Yaccarino created the Nick Jr. preschool series ''Oswald''. ...

. The book has been adapted by Yaccarino into an animated television series called, ''

Willa's Wild Life ''Willa's Wild Life'' is an animated television series based on Dan Yaccarino's book '' An Octopus Followed Me Home.'' The series originally aired on Qubo in the United States (and has been put back on Qubo's schedule from 2019 to 2020), YTV in ...

,'' directed by Steve Sullivan.

Plot

The book tell the story of a young girl who takes a green

octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

home. When the girl asks her father if she can keep the octopus in the bathtub, he tells her about all the other animals he let her keep and all the sacrifices he made. The saddened girl returns the green octopus back to the ocean, but becomes happy again when a gray

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

follows her home.

Characters

* The Girl is the main character of the book. The Girl had an octopus follow her home after school. Before the octopus followed her home, many other animals followed her home. For instance a

giraffe The giraffe is a large Fauna of Africa, African even-toed ungulate, hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa.'' It is the Largest mammals#Even-toed Ungulates (Artiodactyla), tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on ...

, an

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

, a million

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s, and other animals followed her home. The Girl's name is never mentioned in the book. The Girl is an inspiration of Willa. * Dad is The girl's father. Dad doesn't like the animals The Girl brings home around the house, but, knowing how much The Girl loves them, he lets her keep them. When The Girl brings the octopus home, Dad becomes tired of sacrificing and tells her to return the octopus to its original home. Dad is an inspiration of Willa's Dad. * The Octopus is the octopus that follows The Girl home. At the beginning of the book, The Girl asked her father if she can keep him in the bathtub. Her father tells The Girl to return The Octopus to the sea. The Octopus becomes Oiram blue when he goes back to his real home. * The Alligator is one of the animals that followed The Girl home. The Alligator sleeps under Dad's bed, and won't let him sleep at all. The Alligator is an inspiration of Gus. * The Giraffe is one of the other animals that followed The Girl home. Whenever The Girl goes to school, The Giraffe says good-bye with its head sticking out of the

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typical ...

. The Giraffe is an inspiration of Jenny. * The Bear is a

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

that is

hibernating Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic reduction entered by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It is most ...

in the living room behind the couch. The Bear is an inspiration of Bert. * The Rabbits are a group of thousands of gray, orange, brown and white

s that multiply every day. The Rabbits are inspirations of the bunnies. * The Dinosaur is a gray dinosaur that follows The Girl home at the end of the book. * The Ostrich is an

that is seen in the beginning having its head stuck in the opening of the kitchen drain. * The Tiger is a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

seen in the beginning outside in the lawn while Dad is mowing.

References