Otis: Why is nobody afraid of the self driving emotional tractor?



Otis, the little red tractor, 'putt puff puttedy chuffs' around the farm. One day he becomes friends with a baby cow. What happens when a strong new yellow tractor comes to the farm? A solid book regarding friendship and hard work. Great for ages as early as 1 or 2. The pages and drawings are easy on the eyes.

Five star book!

  • Otis (Loren Long)
  • Lexile Measure: AD840L
  • Series: Otis (Book 1)
  • 40 pages
  • Philomel Books
  • ISBN-10: 0399252487
  • ISBN-13: 978-0399252488



Kid Perspective:

Otis was an instant classic in our household. My son adores this book and is in the range of 1-3 reads per day. It is a very cute and well written book that he has not yet chosen to chew on or use as a step stool, or chase one of the dogs with. Many pages are fun to play "show me a ________" with, allowing him to locate dogs and ducks in a where's waldo style read... even though it is not written that way. Plenty of pages describe actions Otis takes like leaping and spinning, this is fun to read and pantomime. Every time an apple tree is shown, my son takes a fake bite of a miniature pretend apple.

Parent Perspective:

Otis was an excellent purchase, and I was surprised by how much my son loves it. How much of that is because of how I read it and interact? Who know, he loves it regardless.

There are some weird things in the book which cause me to raise an eyebrow.

  • The calf is afraid of the new yellow tractor (who conveniently has no name). The book says it is because of his snoring, I think it is his angry evil eyes.
  • Why are none of the farmers concerned that Otis drives himself and is sentient? None of the other cars or equipment is driver-less... I would not participate in a parade led by a sentient machine, and participated in by an angry tractor enslaved by humans.. Sentience and anger towards humans = Skynet.. Need I say more?

--
Sourced: This book was bought in Powells Books where a literary waterfall might drown an unsuspecting child in wonderful literature. Please make sure you put arm floatees on your littles if you ever taken them there.

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