Inked by Karen Wasson illustrated by Jake A Minton

When I read the title of this book I thought it was about tattoos - I should have looked more closely at the cover - can you see the octopus. His name is Otto and Otto is an opera singer but instead of arriving in Rome ready to perform at the famous opera house he finds himself in Rone. 

He is in the wrong town but also in the wrong place - this is a fish shop and humans eat calamari (octopus). Meanwhile twelve-year-old Sid scores a place in the art school of his dreams but his family have no money and the fish shop is not going well because a rival over the road is offering cheaper meals. 

How can a singing octopus save the day? 

Inked is a madcap adventure told as a graphic novel. It looks like a long book with close to 300 pages but the format means you will read it very quickly and also you will want to read it all in one gulp because, while you know there must be a happy ending, I was desperate to see if my predictions came true (they didn't).

Bookseller blurb: When 12-year-old Sid discovers a talking octopus in his family’s fish shop, he is shocked – and annoyed. Otto the octopus is cheeky, demanding, and won’t leave Sid alone until he helps Otto get to the ocean … roughly 300 kilometres away! But Sid has bigger fish to fry. He has to figure out how to get into the art school of his dreams, or else high school next year will be a nightmare.    Can these frenemies find a way to work together, or will it all end in disaster? Or even worse … will Sid and Otto realise they actually make a pretty great team? Brimming with hilarity, hijinks and plenty of heart, the first graphic novel from author Karen Wasson and CBCA-acclaimed illustrator Jake A Minton sparkles with slapstick humour and fish-out-of-water misunderstandings. With extraordinary full-colour artwork and a bonus 'making of' section at the end, readers of all ages will be surprised and delighted with this stand-out suburban adventure for middle-grade readers. Prepare to get INKED!

You can see more pages inside Inked here

Check out more about Jake A Minton on his Instagram page. I was a CBCA Judge when Jake A Minton's first book was published - it was submitted for the New Illustrator award - "There's no such Book".

Inked is a 2026 CBCA Younger Readers shortlist title. Here are the judges' comments:

If I was introducing or book talking Inked with a group of students (Grade 4 and up) I would begin with the music from this story. It would be fun to involve your school music teacher if you have one. You could just listen to these extracts for a minute or two.

• M'ama, sì, m'ama, lo vedo, lo vedo! from the Donizetti's Opera (video from YouTube) 
• Here is a terrific orchestral version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• La donna e mobile Verdi (here is Pavarotti)
• Octopus's Garden
• Cry me a river (here is Michael Buble)
• Recitar mentre preso del delirio (video from YouTube)

Here are the teachers notes which oddly do not mention the music. 

A quick summary of the plot makes this book sound completely absurd, but readers will be surprised and delighted by thoughtful character development, witty dialogue, and Jake A. Minton’s warm, polished artwork. Inked is a strangely compelling reading experience with a filmic style and energy. An excellent, wildly entertaining read for ages 9+. Readings Melbourne

Brimming with hilarity, hijinks and plenty of heart, the first graphic novel from author Karen Wasson and CBCA-acclaimed illustrator Jake A Minton sparkles with slapstick humour and fish-out-of-water misunderstandings. With extraordinary full-colour artwork and a bonus 'making of' section at the end, readers of all ages will be surprised and delighted with this stand-out suburban adventure for middle-grade readers. Lamont Books

That Bird has Arms! by Kate and Jol Temple illustrated by Niharika Hukku and Ronojoy Ghosh

I would be very tempted to read this book to a group without showing the illustrations. You could show them later after a discussion about the story and its purpose. There is one page that is especially important. When the other birds discover Roy has arms, they tease and bully him and use social media (Tweets) to spread their 'hate speech'. Roy could do several things to react to this - your group could list his possible responses. What actually happens shocked me.

"The birds laughed. The mean laugh. The laugh that makes you sad and mad and bad with everyone. Roy started poking people. He picked his beak. He picked other bird's beaks. He flicked people. He did graffiti. He wiped his hand on stuff."

Luckily things do change - Roy to the rescue - when Marvin the pigeon is tangled in some wires. Again, you could talk with your group about possible reactions and why Roy decided to be kind. 

Roy saves the day and the other birds now see him as a hero BUT will this fame and glory be short-lived. We have already witnessed that the birds have short attention spans, and that social media quickly flips to other topics. What will happen next?

Bookseller blurb: Roy is an ordinary bird in every way. He is not the biggest, or the smallest. His squawk is not the loudest or the quietest. He even follows the same football team as everyone else. He was very normal except for one thing – he has ARMS. Absolutely nobody knows – and Roy would like to keep it that way...  That Bird Has Arms is a story about difference and identity. It’s about learning to see that what sets you apart is what makes you strong, and it’s about pride in your own uniqueness.

This is a decidedly odd book. I am only going to talk about it very briefly because it has been shortlisted for our Picture Book of the Year award by the Children's Book Council of Australia. As a previous judge of this award I did have to weather some criticisms of our short list (and winner) choices (see below). I wonder if the three judges for this round are receiving any comments about this selection?

CBCA Judges' Comments: This quirky story oozes originality. It embraces popular culture, such as social media and popularity contests and cleverly explores themes of identity and accepting difference 

through the main character, Roy, a bird with human-like arms. The use of language is sophisticated and engaging, featuring direct speech of the avian characters alongside more traditional narration. The high-quality, colourful and engaging illustrations represent characters effectively and provide a clever sub-text to the narrative, including gentle humour appropriate for a dual audience. There is pleasing symmetry between the text and visual elements that embodies the mood and enhances the narrative. The plot that follows Roy coming to terms with his difference, as well as others’ eventual acceptance of him includes a joy-filled resolution.

Here are some teachers notes to explore from Lamont (I highly recommend their standing order service).

Companion books:

Scary Bird

Oddbird

Calvin can't fly

We're all wonders

Another book you could try to find which is VERY old, but it has a powerful story about difference and using your talent is The Mouse with the too Long Tail. 

Niharika Hukku is a ceramics artist practicing in Sydney, Australia. Her work has a deep connection to her heritage of India, drawing inspiration from traditional earthenware and ceramics. Prior to commencing her ceramic artworks, Hukku spent a over a decade as an illustrator. She fuses these talents by delicately hand-painting her ceramics with expressive skies, landscapes and Australian wildlife. She is married to Ronojoy Ghosh. Read more about Ronojoy Ghosh here. And also about Kate and Jol Temple.  I previously talked about this book:

Ollie and the Wind

Just for interest here are the 2023 Picture Book short listed titles - the winner was My Strange Shrinking Parents.

I was a third grade spy by Mary Jane Auch

It is not often that I tell a reader exactly how to read a book but for this one I was a third grade spy there is one little trick that will help you make sense of this quirky romp - you need to notice the little illustrations at the top of each chapter.  These show you the voice or narrator for that chapter the most important of which is Arful the dog.

We do have the first book of this series in our school library - I was a third grade Science project.  This next story continues with Arful hypnotized and discovering he can now speak to his human friends Josh, Dougie and Brian.

If you have read Spunky tells all (and I hope you have) then I was a Third Grade Spy is the perfect follow on book.  Artful tries to help the boys win the school talent quest but while he can understand human speech many expressions and even individual words do not make sense to his dog brain.

This is a simple book but it is filled with humour and a quick story.  The ending at the talent quest is the predictable disaster and it is utterly hilarious.

In this scene the boys are attempting to make a souffle because they think their spy - Arful - has discovered this is what the girls are planning for the talent quest.

"We're in the kitchen, my favourite place in the whole world.  I pride myself on keeping this floor licked spotless. I'm hoping for a lot of spilling, because these guys haven't a clue how to cook.  I settle in the corner that gives me the best view. I could spot a dropped sesame seed from here."