The storyline was cute but thought provoking. A good lesson for kids about freedom and why animals need to be in the wild. Adorable pictures. I love the true stories at the end. A great read for kids who enjoy sea life and an enjoyable read for parents too!

Octopi may become your favorite sea animal after reading Inky the Octopus by Erin Guendelsberger. Based on a true event with a real octopus, a cute story has been written. The family enjoyed seeing the world and the aquarium home through the eyes of Inky.

Haven’t we all longed for freedom at one time or another? Inky simply follows through with that dream when he spots an opportunity. His cleverness and determination certainly come through in the rhyming text as well as the illustrations. The illustrations were colorful but that is not what stands out. It is the expressions of the creatures especially their expressive eyes that make this so delightful.

Finishing the story as Inky escapes gives the reader the opportunity to imagine Inky well and safe off on his freedom adventure. A bonus is the information concerning the real Inky’s escape along with his photograph. All of this led to more information concerning octopi, which made interesting reading too. All these added parts made Inky the Octopus an outstanding book.

This book was absolutely adorable. I loved the illustration style and the little facts at the end of the book were a nice touch. I definitely want to read this to my preschool kids.

This was a cute little book. I read it with my six year old son and we actually enjoyed the info at the end of the story more than the story itself. We liked the info on the true escape artists and then the questions and answers about sea animals! Great for kids who like to learn!

Inky the Octopus is a cute read that tells the story of a real life escape artist octopus. I love the non-fiction information included after the story about other special octopuses. The text flows well and the pictures are vibrant and colorful.

Cute book with well-done and fun artwork. Nice rhyming text without seeming forced. I liked the factual information at the end. It cleared up one thing that bugged me in the main narrative -- the fact that octopuses do not have ANY tentacles. But it was used in the text... tentacle tag... but whatever. It's still cute.

Cute story for a little one. Read this with my grandson and then he looked at the pictures and made up his on story. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read and review this wonderful children's book.

Inky is an octopus living in an aquarium. He feels the call of the open sea, and wants to go free to see what is out there. He is able to sneak out one night when his tank is left open, just a bit, and squeeze through a drain out to the ocean. AS the story ends, you see him enjoying his new life in the sea.

This story is based on the real-life escape of an octopus from the New Zealand aquarium, and is told from Inky's point of view. This is like a real life Finding Dory with a happy ending. The illustrations are amazing. They are so colourful and show what life at the bottom of the ocean looks like in a way that will enchant children. The emotions shown in Inky's eyes show his happiness at escaping to the real world. The rhyming text tells the story in a way that is interesting and with a cadence that is easy to read and listen too.

Back matter includes the details of the real escape and Inky's photo. There are also octopus facts and a bibliography. This would make a great story when studying ocean animals, animal adaptations, as well as when discussing animals in captivity and animal rescues. It is also just a cute story for those who enjoy animal stories in general.

Told from the point of view of an octopus who escapes his enclosure and goes back to sea, Inky the Octopus is perfect for fans of Finding Dory. The illustrations are fantastic, and children will love following along on Inky's adventure.

If you kids are fans of Finding Dory then they need this book. Like Sid, Inky just wants out of his tank. He wants to travel and go on adventures. This is based on the true story of Inky at the New Zealand Aquarium. The illustrations are fun, the rhymes and cadence perfect, and the story is fun. At the end the author includes facts about octopi, and my favorite part, other celebrity Octopus.

Ha! Loved this story! Made even better in the fact that it is based on a true event! Inky is the best! Little ones will cheer our hero on his escape!

I love Inky the Octopus! This true story of Inky made my heart happy. Inky always wondered what else was out there. He knew he had been trapped in a tank and the ocean was calling him back. His story is lovely and one I want to share with many children. I also enjoyed the other stories of silly animals in captivity. Looking forward to April to share these stories with my class!

nky is an incredibly curious octopus who feels the call of the open sea, even while living a pampered life with catered meals and companionship within the National Aquarium of New Zealand. Despite "three meals a day of lobster, shrimp, and squid," Inky longs for something more than life in a tank. "Out of this tank, I must break free. I hear the ocean calling me!" says the adventurous cephalopod.

Based on the real-life escape of an octopus from the aquarium, this picture book is told from Inky's point of view. While this may detract a bit from the strictly scientific accuracy of the account, it has the advantage of appealing to young readers. The rhyming text makes readers wonder how it would feel to "live in a world of see-through walls, in a tank with a locked down lid." While Inky enumerates the benefits of life at the aquarium like food and other creatures to play with, the call of the sea is a refrain as faithful as the tides.

Illustrations show Inky playing "seaweed hide-and-seek" with a puffer fish, which seems like fun. But the pictures also show the view of the ocean so tantalizingly close that readers can almost hear the waves on the shore and sympathize with Inky's desire. The stealthy departure from the aquarium includes some eight-armed tiptoeing on the part of the protagonist while the other residents look on with alarmed expressions. Then comes a cannonball into the water, and a celebratory pirouette beneath the waves. The large eyes show every emotion, along with plenty of invertebrate body language.

Back matter includes the details of the real escape and Inky's photo. There are also three pages of octopus facts and a bibliography. Highly recommended to accompany units on ocean animals or animal adaptations, as well as for readers who enjoy animal stories in general.

This book is such a fun story! Based on the real life escape of Inky the Octopus, it imagines what his journey was like. The illustrations are great fun, and my boys loved the story!

This book is an adorable story of an octopus that escapes his tank and makes it to the ocean. And the best part? It is based on a true story! This title begins as a picture book would, and following the story there are pages of interesting octopus facts and other true accounts of octopus escapes! Very cute illustrations and I liked the information at the end.

This was a cute book about a true story. At first I wasn't sure about the rhyme scheme, but it developed ok. I especially liked the facts at the end of the book which can help young readers understand the octopus as an animal and not just the character. Great illustrations too!

This was a really cute book. I loved the story of the curious octopus that dreamed about exploring the great blue sea. It reminded me of the Octopus in Finding Dory! I also enjoyed the illustrations.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Adorable story about a captive octopus named Inky who escapes his tank because he wants to explore the sea. Told from Inky’s point of view in a rhyming scheme with good rhythm and flow to it. The illustrations are gorgeous and fun. I especially like at the end there are a few pages that talk about the real Inky the octopus, some other unique octopi, and octopus fun facts.

I read this book with my son and he loved it! He thought it was funny that Inky escaped and left tentacle marks everywhere.

We did have a hard time reading it on my eReader app and the pictures were messed up on the kindle so I had a hard time following along.

This Book Is A Stone Cold Riot

We snorkel a lot and observing an octopus is and has been our fondest desire. Maybe some day. Meanwhile we entertain the grandkids with our underwater photos and videos, trips to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and lots of ocean storybooks and ocean adventure and fact books. There are some excellent whale storybooks for little ones, and some very good otter and pelican books. But, we've never found a really good octopus book. Until now.

This book scores high marks across the board. The rhyming is clever, natural, and unlabored. It is witty and light hearted. The octopus hero, Inky, is friendly and appealing. Supporting ocean characters are similarly charming and engaging. Especially important, the octopus is remarkably expressive. Surprise, playfulness, fear, doubt, resolve, silliness, cunning - all of these emotions and attitudes can be plainly read in the drawings. That is a double barreled bonus because it makes everything easier for a youngster who's a new reader and trying to read this book on his own, and it gives the book great zip, energy and re-readability.

The watercolors, (I'm pretty sure that's what they are), serve the storytelling well. The pages have big color and the action is clear, but they aren't too busy or too minimalist. The effect is bright and sunny and upbeat, which serves the story well and draws the little reader along. As to the story, Inky is comfy in his aquarium tank, but he wants to explore the ocean. He plots and effects a daring escape. No complicated messages and nothing scary - just octopus fun with a nice adventure frame and encouragement to follow your heart and your curiosity.

The book is based on the real Inky, who escaped from the National Aquarium of New Zealand in exactly the manner described in this book. That bit, plus some final pages about octopus behavior and other famous octopus pranksters add more interest and a bit more weight to the book. Octopuses really are fascinating - especially their anatomy, behavior, unique neurology, and playful charm, and any kid who found herself interested in octopuses as a result of reading a book like this would be a lucky kid.

I got a temporary, (timed to expire), version of this book as an Adobe advance reading copy, but once it's generally available we'll be getting copies for all of the grandchild households. This was a total hoot.