[.ca] Lot of Otters (ISBN 0613285638)

visually beautiful, poetically haunting...:
If you like visually beautiful stories, then you'd be hard-pressed to top the work of Barbara Helen Berger. The otters come to life on the pages of this book...frolicking, reading, rolling, and tasting stars. Besides its stunning visuals, "A Lot of Otters" is also filled with haunting, almost singing prose; one example: "A lot of otters saw the stars fall. They dove down into the dark, down into the deep." Mrs. Berger is one of the best at what she does--she is a true myth-making aritist. It is hard to walk away from one of her stories without being somehow enriched. I recommend "A Lot of Otters" most highly.

precious but repetative:
I would give this book five stars for the story, which is an adorable story about a little baby, who's mother is the moon, that gets lost and finds himself floating on the ocean surrounded by otters. It is a very gentle story, and the illustrations are filled with light and magic. The only critisism that I have is that page by page the illustrations are very similar. My two year old daughter doesn't always have the patience to get to the end of the book, although she is mesmerized by the first few pages. The overall review is good though. The story ends with the mother moon finding her child and the image of thier embrace is so cozy and warm. I would give a rating of four and a half and I would be surprised if you and your child didn't love this book.

This lovely new myth delights children and adults.:
"A Lot of Otters" is a lovely new myth, made realistic through paintings which exhibit both virtuosic skill and artistic vision. In the central painting, "down into the deep," the otters almost swim on the page. Even more compelling than the otters is the huggable toddler who goes to sea in a cardboard box, drops his beloved book overboard, then watches as the otters enjoy it. While his mother, the moon, weeps and frantically calls her baby, he is calmiy observing this new world of otter antics. Skillfully and subtlely, the author/artist reveals the toddler's feelings through his facial expressions and body language. His face and posture communicate interest, then surprise, dismay, concern, awe, and finally, delight. His emotions are illustrated, but never exaggerated. Throughout this drama of separation, the gentle colors and soft textures assure us that we are reading toward a happy ending. I took "A Lot of Otters" to a recent family gathering, intending to read it to our young grandsons. After family members saw the book,they requested a reading for all. It was a pleasure to share this lovely story with the assembled family of all ages. "A Lot of Otters" could easily be translated into many languages, for the text is spare and the appeal universal.

Calm, tranquil, transformative:
Barbara Helen Berger's "A Lot Of Otters" is lovely. We begin seeing, on an open ocean, a little boy in soft red pajamas, floating about in a box! He's has something, which he drops, and soon otters begin to swim around and gather up what he's dropped and what the Moon herself is dropping as well (I can't give away more detail or it will take away some of the fun of the book for you). The illustrations are soft, sumptuous, and absolutely glowing--Berger has somehow managed to make each page look almost as though it's lit from behind. The toddler is rendered realistically, and the otters are shown sleek and lithe as they would be in real life--but everything has a moonglow cast to it, and that makes this book's pictures utterly and completely enchanting. A wonderful bedtime story, especially on a moonlit night!

A dreamy bedtime story:
It's bedtime & Mother Moon calls for her child. Below, a little boy in his pjs with a book under his arms, finds a box to snuggle into & dream of floating on the sea with a lot of otters. A much-loved book in our rural library, with pictures every mother & child can relate to, this tender & lyrical read takes you out into the otters' world of water & charm & comedy. A lovely, whimsical book, a soothing, joyous bedtime story.