Get Sid the Squid on your ipad

Immedium just released an itunes version of Sid the Squid and it’s ridiculously cheap, only 99 cents. Buy it, download it, review it, enjoy it!

Two new reviews for Sid the Squid

Two new Reviews for Sid the Squid:

“Sid the Squid and the Search for the Perfect Job” is a delightful illustrated children’s book about a curious giant sea squid whose goal is to obtain gainful employment! He has some unusual characteristics which may tend to stereotype him, such as having 10 arms and being a sea creature. However, with the help of a friend named Alice who believes in him and helps him refine his job search, he ends up in the perfect job – animal rescue at the Sea Aquarium. This happens after many amusing stints in other jobs that don’t quite work out. “Sid the Squid” is a great book to help prepare young children for the notion that job- finding is a job in itself, and refining the search is part of what it’s all about. “Sid the Squid” is very imaginatively written and illustrated by its talented creator, a veteran artist at DreamWorks Feature Animation. “Sid the Squid” is perfect for children ages 4-8.

Midwest Book Review – December 2010

“Sid the giant squid, with his many useful arms and huge, expressive eyes, searches San Francisco for the perfect job. He unsuccessfully directs traffic, fights fire, cooks in a restaurant, washes windows, and attempts other work to great comic effect until he discovers his ideal job in, of course, the city aquarium…it’s hilarious to see Sid’s multitasking legs in handsome, computer-generated cartoon illustrations rendered by a seasoned DreamWorks story artist.”
– Bayviews, November 2010, Association of Children’s Librarians of Northern California

New “Scientific” Reviews

Click here for the review

Immedium, the publisher,  sent copies of Sid the Squid to scientific experts. Uh oh… Now I’m a nature geek and usually I like to get things scientifically right, however I took a little bit of license on Sid.  Cepholopods are divided into various groups the big ones are octopods and decapods.  Members of the octopod group have eight arms. Octo=8. Decapods have 10 appendages. Now to be fair technically Squid only have eight arms +two long tentacles.  Cepholopod enthusiast that I am I felt that saying Sid had eight arms + two long tentacles, or that Sid had 10 appendages was too clunky and awkward.  I am glad these scientific minded people were able to look at Sid and I appreciate their candid reviews.

Sid the Squid and Flo the Octopus

This weekend I presented and read Sid the Squid at the Santa Monica Aquarium.  This small Aquarium below the Santa Monica Pier is famous for cepholopods. Well They are famous for one mischivious octopus the media named Flo.  Octopus, like squid are invertebrates, and as far as invertebrates go they are genius. One night the octopus removed some piping. No biggie right. well the next morning the entire Aquarium was flooded with some 200 gallons of seawater.  The media named the eight legged culprit “flo” for obvious reasons.  The Aquarium still has an octopus, it is not however the same one.  Octopus live short lives, typically just over a year.  So not too soon after the flooding incident flo died.

Castiac library book read

Thanks to everyone who showed up at the Castiac Library. The event was well attended and organized. The library is very kid-friendly and though it may be on the smaller side it has an impressive children’s section. Coming up next this weekend is the book read at the Santa Monica Aquarium.

My Daughter Samea was a big help at the event

Ben the photographer

Sid the Squid’s Movie Career

In the book Sid passes up an awesome opportunity to become a star in a major motion picture. Why? Because he didn’t want to be typecast as a monster.  The movie would’ve been awesome as you can see in the poster it was entitled CALAMONSTRO!

There would have been plenty of action packed scenes with radioactive lizards bi-planes and yes King Kong! Since Sid passed on the opportunity we can only imagine what might have been.

Truth be told this drawing was inspired by my office set up at work. A while back a guy at work was giving out knickknacks from Tokyo, I got King Kong. He’s been fighting the Giant Squid ever since.

More Sid the Squid Reviews

“Sid the Squid was truly wonderful!  The expressions on Sid’s face are priceless, the art is fantastic, and I love that the artist added the Monterey Bay Aquarium kelp forest. Thanks for sharing and publishing this wonderful book! “

Dori DeCommer
Youth Services Librarian
Kensington and San Pablo Library
Contra Costa County, California

Searching for the perfect job, Sid, a giant squid, leaves his ocean home for the big city. There, a new human friend helps him locate and try out a variety of roles, from traffic director to electrician. Nothing seems just right, until he saves a whale and finds his niche at an aquarium with an animal-rescue program. Derrick, a story artist at DreamWorks Animation, wrote and digitally created the art for this, his first picture book, which reads like a storyboard for an animated cartoon. The plot is neatly summarized by the back-cover portrait of the anthropomorphized squid holding the tools of his various trades.

Kirkus Reviews