Kelpy was a captian. He was made for the job. He loved being a captain more than anything in this world, but he endured a lot of hardship along the way. He was laughed at and mocked for his passion, but to no avail he continued his quest. And as he went he met a few folks who loved sailing and fighting just as much as he. When he met little Butterbeard, he remembered what it felt like to be laughed at a lot. It was then that he realized just what to do.
In a true story of empathy and understanding, Kelpy makes a friend in the most unlikely of places. I think this story offers many opportunities for teaching empathy and kindness in a classroom with a dash of fun. Kids will love this story as will parents and teachers.

Kelpy is an otter who loves to sail. He builds himself a ship out of scraps. Everyone, other otters, pirates, sharks and even the waves laugh at him and his ship. This hurts his feelings and he feels sad, but he loves his shop and off he sails. During his travels, he comes across a tiny ship captained by a butterfly. The butterfly tries to sink him and he laughs at him. When Kelpy realizes that he has made the butterfly feel bad, just like the others had done to him, he comes up with a solution. He does something about it and ends up becoming good friends/rivals with the butterfly captain. This story is short and cute (a good length for a bedtime story). The illustrations are fun and colourful. My grandson liked this story. He thought it was funny that an Otter had a boat, knowing that they know how to swim. A good story for a classroom or family library. The publisher, Owlkids Books, provided me with a copy of this book to read. The opinions stated are my own.

This story is perfect for storytime. Children will love the silly antics of the otter and his pirate dreams but also learn about acceptance and friendship in how the otter puts his new friend's feelings above his.

Kind of cheesy, but really cute. It is definitely, for the under 6 crowd, given the cheesiness of it, but they will love it.

THE SINKING OF CAPTAIN OTTER is a delightful read-aloud about Kelpy, a sea otter, and his friendship with a butterfly pirate in a teeny-tiny boat. A heartwarming tale filled with rhyme, repetition, and lots of fun.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#OwlkidsBooks #NetGalley

Kelpy, the otter, adores ships, sailing the deep blue sea and hopefully being a hearty sea captain. He decides to built a ship out of this and that and sail off into the unknown.

The other otters laugh and scoff at his workmanship (and at him).

"Kelpy sighed a little.
He cried a little.
But he loved his ship.
He loved her from keel
to cabin
to crow's nest.
So he took a deep breath,
straightened his hat,
and sailed on."


Did those hurtful words and gestures deter him? No way....Kelby is determined and off he sails to fulfill his dream. Along the way scruffy pirates mock and taunt him, sharks make fun of him and even the waves ridicule him but he presses on.


"Kelpy sighed a little.
He cried a little.
But he loved his ship.
He loved her from keel
to cabin
to crow's nest.
So he took a deep breath,
straightened his hat,
and sailed on."

One day he comes upon a pathetic want-to-be sailor:

"Arrr!" came a shout.
"I be Blistering Blastering Butterbeard.
Prepare to be sunk!"

Oh my! This sounds very dangerous. Kelpy discovers the voice is coming from a small butterfly pirate in an itty-bitsy boat. Kelpy ignites into fits of laughter and fingerpointing... just exactly how he has been treated by those disbelievers around him. The tiny butterfly suddenly bursts into tears because his feelings are so badly hurt.

All of a sudden Kelpy comes to his senses and realizes how mean his words are and he turns that hurtful malice into acceptance and sympathy. Can he ever make amends to the poor little butterfly? Cleverly he hatches a plan and finds the perfect way to do so. When he puts his plan into action it works like a charm and Kelpy makes a brand new friend. A friend who like him loves his ship dearly and loves sailing the seven seas and having wonderful adventures.

This book is a lovely read aloud and the illusrations are full of emotion and heart. Young children love rhyme and repetition and this book delivers both. It is inspiring as it encourages kids to follow their dreams even though there may be doubters trying to discourage them from doing so. I love the positive message and the fact that you have the power to reach out and make a difference in someone else's life too. I highly recommend this book.

I really like the flow and cadence of this book. The cadence isn’t always there, but there is a pattern to when it is and when it isn’t there. I think this would make an excellent story time book. I would be a fun read. An otter builds a ship and goes sailing. He has a run in with a pirate and his ship is destroyed. That only leads to more fun for the otter, the pirate, and the reader.

I was intrigued by this book's title and the cute cover art, particularly as I live on the West Coast and boats, otters, and captains are regular parts of life on the Coast. However, the story was not one that I expected. I anticipated a story with the Otter as the sole main character. Instead, the story has Captain Otter (aka Kelpy) befriending Blistering Blastering Butterbeard. It is a cute story, but one that didn't resonate with me as much as I hoped it would. This is likely because I was expecting (and hoping for) something slightly different. The illustrations are fun and interact well with the text on the page. The story as a whole felt like it could have been more finely tuned though... the beginning of the story, when Kelpy was being laughed at, could have been made more clear (i.e. mentioning that they were laughing at his boat).

This was a great story about an Otter who is teased by others, but continues to do the things he loves. After teasing another, he realizes his mistake, and they become friends and play together.

There is great repetition in the text, the message of kindness is clear without be preachy. It is engaging and made my four year old laugh. He said he loved it when it was done and wanted to read it again.

The illustrations are fun and colourful.

Thank you to #NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Kelpy, the otter, builds a ship. The other otters, sharks, pirates and even the waves laughed at him. Finally a pirate bullies him and fires at Kelpy's ship, yet misses . Kelpy destroys his own ship (and the pirate's also). Together, they rebuild their ships, sink them, rebuild...

Cute story - excellent illustrations. Lots for students to discuss (how Kelpy tricked the pirate, bullying, and mending "fences - in this case SHIPS!)


A fun read! Recommend!!!

This is a cute book about an otter whose boat is made fun of by pirates and other otters and even the waves. When he comes across a butterfly whose ship he finds funny, he realizes the butterfly's feelings have been hurt the same way his own have. So he lets the butterfly sink his ship, and then they rebuild and sink each other over and over, laughing together.

A story about two bullied characters finding joy in their friendship with one another.

Overall, I felt very meh about it, though.

At the very first I was a bit uncomfortable with this book about a couple of sailors fighting, but then I realized it was the same discomfort a lot of adults feel when they see children playing fighting kinds of games. When children are laughing and trusting each other to play by their rules, they enjoy a good game of scuttle and rebuild, and that's just what happens in this book. Children will at first point out and recognize the "mean" words, and laughing, but will recognize the play. great for opening discussions about how children actually play.
Would love a hard copy to actually share with my class.

Because I like to review books close to their publication date, I have a review for this title scheduled on Sept. 30, 2018 on www.readingrumpus.com. I will also promote it socially then. Here is a small portion of that review "The Sinking of Captain Otter is a fun and engaging picture book, perfectly suited to its target age demographic. There's just enough rhyming and repetition so as to not overpower. I love the subtleness in the bullying message (which in the first few pages made me worry it was going to be another "bullying is bad" sermon". Instead, the bullied Kelpy, knowing what it is like to feel sad and bullied, chooses to turn the other cheek, swallow some pride, and make friends in unlikely places. There's also something in there about a healthy rivalry, but I'm not very competitive so it kind of got lost on me. Mostly, I liked the idea of tenacity in the face of ridicule. It's short and sweet, but it contains a lot of possible discussion about Kelpy's traits and decisions."

Kelpy is an otter who builds his own ship out of scraps. Everyone laughs at him and his scrappy ship, and he's sad about it until he meets a butterfly captain of an even smaller ship... I love that Kelpy realizes that he's making the butterfly feel the same sad sort of way the pirates and the sharks and the waves have made him feel, so he does something about it and ends up becoming good friends/rivals with the butterfly captain. This story is short and cute (a good length for a bedtime story) and the illustrations are cute and fun.