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Meta-Dad
January 13, 2009
We all had a favorite color when we were kids and maybe we still do. Otto's story shows us what happens when we love that color a little too much, mayhem ensues! Written by Jay Lynch (among other things famed for his efforts on Garage Pail Kids and Wacky Packages and penned by award winning illustrator, Frank Cammuso, Otto's Orange Day shows us what happens when Otto wishes his world orange.
Otto's Aunt mails him an orange (Aladdin's) lamp and he quickly finds that he has one wish, where he can have anything he wants. With this, he wishes everything orange. Once his mother serves him orange spinach, he starts to realize that everything isn't better orange. Knowing that he has used his one wish he has to think quick to turn everything back to the right color. To save the day, Otto will need his family's help, some quick thinking, and...a pizza?
Cammuso's art is both stylish and approachable for kids new to the indicative of comic books, while Lynch's writing is clever, lighthearted and attainable for this young audience. I read this to my four year old and two year old on a regular basis and both grab it from our crammed bookshelves over and over again, and that in itself speaks volumes.
—Meta-Dad
Summer Reading for the Under Ten Crowd
July/August 2008
In the delightful graphic novel Otto's Orange Day author Jay Lynch and illustrator Frank Cammuso have put together the kind of story that will amuse early reader with its giddy plot and zany main character. Otto the cat loves the color orange and he literally sings its praises in the book's opening chapters. When a package arrives from his Aunt Sally Lee, he finds himself in the fortunate position of meeting a real live "genie of the lamp." What does Otto want? Well, everything to be orange, of course! But that does not work out the way he thought it would ("orange lamb chop, orange spinach. orange mashed potatoes," and the worst: "orange milk"!) and pretty soon Otto is desperately looking for a way to make everything the way it was before. The genie is cranky though and doesn't want to reverse the wish so Otto is stuck until Aunt Sally Lee arrives and with some careful thinking they figure out a way to de-orange the world.
This is an exuberant book-- the pictures nearly bounce off the page and Otto's excitement and glee are irresistible. He is a fully-frmed character from the first page and only becomes more endearing as the book continues. Cammuso clearly loves this little guy and gives him enough attitude to stretch his appeal from preschoolers up to the more jaded eight- to nine-year olds. He's funny and snarky and a little too smart for his own good. When the genie shows him the error of his ways, Otto just can't believe it and really doesn't want to admit he's wrong. It's nice to see that he isn't made small by this whole experience, but just makes more friends, bounds out the door and sets off on his next adventure. Is there a moral in here? Well, yeah- don't wish the world to orange- but otherwise, it's just a big, fun story that is a party to read and look at. This is perfect- perfect - for reluctant readers.
—Colleen Mondor, Eclectica Magazine
Provo City Library Childrens Book Review
May 21, 2008
Otto loves the color orange, and when an orange package arrives with a gold lamp from Aunt Sally Lee, he rubs it, produces a genie, and wishes everything in the world were orange. After the genie obliges, Otto wonders why there are so many car crashes (no red or green lights), how the police will catch "the orange robber," and whether he can choke down an orange pork chop and orange mashed potatoes. These days when graphic novels are often iffy for the little dudes, this entry in the Toon Book series provides bright and cautionary fun for young children.
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast: a blog about books: Blurring the Lines
April 15, 2008
Otto's Orange Day is a bizarre -- but also well-crafted -- tale (this one divided into chapters) of a cat whose favorite color is orange. He inadvertently releases a genie in an orange lamp his Aunt Sally Lee's sent him and wishes for an orange-hued world. Not surprisingly, Chapter Two is entitled, "Be Careful What You Wish For!" (Otto's simply not ready for orange lambchops and is seriously bummed when he can no longer profess to having the blues: "What do you mean? What's the blues...You mean you've got the oranges!" his friend tells him). This one was created by Jay Lynch, founder of one of the first underground comics of the '60s (Bijou Funnies), and political cartoonist and writer Frank Cammuso. This is the busiest comic book of the three (in terms of action and panel clutter, though this isn't distracting either), working harder to appeal to modern readers (the genie with a very urban look). And Otto's tale and lesson-learned will appeal to budding nonconformists everywhere.
—Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings
Read About Comics
March 28, 2008
Françoise Mouly is known for all sorts of accomplishments; being the co-editor and publisher of the independent comics anthology RAW, a lengthy stint as the art director for The New Yorker, curator of art exhibits. I must admit, though, that when I hear her name one of the first things that leaps to mind for me is her work on the Little Lit series of books, taking both cartoonists and children's book creators and having them collaborate to create short stories using the comic book format but pushed through the children's book market. Now Mouly's done it again with her new line of Toon Books, creating children's books that are told using comic books's sequential art. When the end result is like Jay Lynch and Frank Cammuso's Otto's Orange Day, well, it's hard to believe that more people aren't doing just this.
Otto the Cat likes orange. Wait, that's not quite accurate. Otto the Cat loves orange! When Otto's Aunty Sally sends him a magic lamp containing a genie, Otto realizes that now his dream can come true. But an all-orange world isn't all Otto imagined -- and without a second wish to change things back, what can Otto do?
Lynch's story is aimed at readers in the 5 to 8 range, and I have to say that if I had a child that old I know what they'd be reading. I really appreciated that Lynch never talked down to his audience; while everything is spelled out for the reader carefully, it doesn't come across as condescending or patronizing. The story itself is fun and cute; Otto's song about all things orange made me laugh, and I absolutely love the scene when everything has become orange and Otto goes outside to see his creation. Each burst of excitement as he spies something newly orange, be it a duck or a clown, is pretty contagious. Lynch has a good handle on just how to write for kids, as well as any adults that might be looking over the kid's shoulder. What also impressed me, though, is how Lynch handled the ending. It's a combination of smart thinking on both Aunt Sally and Otto's parts, and it teaches something to kids without being cloying or over the top. For a book that's just 40 pages, I was impressed at how full this story felt.
Cammuso's art in his book Max Hamm was always a lot of fun, so it's no surprise to find that he's just as good in Otto's Orange Day. The book wouldn't have been half as effective without Cammuso drawing Otto's emotions so lovingly displayed. From Otto patting an orange garden gnome on a head or zooming by orange bees, to hiding behind a trash can in terror, you always know just how Otto's feeling. Otto seems to almost bounce across the page with energy here, and I can just see kids squirming with delight at the art. As a comic aimed at younger readers, Cammuso is careful to keep the storytelling very straightforward and easy to follow, which is exactly what is needed.
Otto's Orange Day is an absolute delight to read--I'm already planning on buying multiple copies for all of my friends's children. I must admit, though, that I'll probably keep one for myself. If Lynch and Cammuso ever want to collaborate on another children's book, I can promise them that I will be ready and waiting to buy a copy. Just one of the first three Toon Books offerings for this spring, I can't thin of a better way to start a line. This is just fun from start to finish.
—Greg McElhatton, Read About Comics
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Booklist: Youth Graphic Novel Stars
March 15, 2008
Written by 60's underground comic guru Lynch and Eisner-nominated Cammuso, who also did the artwork, this book in the new TOON imprint gives emerging readers a high-quality comic that is both loads of fun and easy to read. It's a simple, archetypal story: Otto, a little orange-loving cat, wishes "everything was orange," but when a genie grants his wish, he realizes that he should have been more careful what he wished for: orange lamb chops..."Blaach!!!" This is a textbook example of how to use page composition, expanding panel size, color, and stylized figures to make sequential art fresh, energetic, and lively. With the particular pedigree of the book's creators, however, one can't help but miss avant-garde subversiveness that made Little Lit books (e.g., Strange Stories for Strange Kids, 2001) for older children so thrilling and unique. Even without that element, though, this book is sure to engage a new generation in the art form; kids will want to read it once, then return to it again and again.
—Jesse Karp, Booklist
Comics in the Classroom: Comics as Kids' Books
February 23, 2008
Otto's Orange Day is for an even older independent reader, and it is the one I enjoyed the most. Otto the cat gets a wish from a genie and he uses it to turn the world his favorite color, ORANGE. There are funny consequences and a silly resolution. Good stuff. There are even chapters, which grade 1+2 kids love.
—Scott Tingley, Comics in the Classroom
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