That pig is still on the loose! Christopher Hogwood is spreading holiday cheer in Poland. Monika Szymon, owner of a gingerbread bakery, took time out at a hectic time to write to Sy: “Now we are busy with Christmas orders and have little time for reading. But your history of Christopher was with us during this busy time: I’ve been reading aloud from it. We fall in love with that energetic, hedonistic person. Probably that’s why Chris appeared spontaneously in our gingerbread works: as a piece of dough left after cutting out stars and trees. Thank you for your books and works!”
The Octopus Scientists has been named to Booklist’s Editors’ Choice 2015 list.
The Soul of an Octopus is on The Daily Beast’s list of The Best Nonfiction of 2015: “Montgomery’s illuminating new book [is] funny, sad, and endlessly fascinating.”
“For those who are ready to welcome our octopus overlords,” Jillian Capewell, Entertainment News Editor for The Huffington Post recommends Sy’s octopus book as one of the “20 Notable Non-Fiction Books You Might’ve Missed This Year.”
The Nonfiction Detectives – “two intrepid librarians” who “review the best nonfiction books for children” – have chosen The Octopus Scientists as one of the best of the year. “Montgomery builds excitement, suspense, and a sense of adventure through the first person narrative, dialogue and vivid descriptions of what it’s like to spend days diving and searching for the elusive octopus…The Octopus Scientists is a recommended purchase for school and public library. It would make an excellent mentor text for a writing class working on first person narratives, and it would be an exciting read aloud in a middle school science class.”
Sy shared octopus images and stories with the students and staff at Cambridge Friends School near Boston on December 9. How does an octopus squirt ink? Where is an octopus’ mouth? How can you tell a male octopus from a female octopus? They had wonderful questions!
