The Octonauts Are Where It’s At
As promised, here’s a post about kids’ books, and specifically Meomi’s fabulous The Octonauts series.
We’ve tried to give Mark F. credit for turning us on to The Octonauts, but he refuses to take it, going so far to insist that he’s never seen these books. OK, fine. The books in question are The Only Lonely Monster, The Sea of Shade, and the new release, The Frown Fish. All hold the attention of the grownups, the teenager, and the school-age tike in the house. Seriously, everyone should run out and get these.
But how to describe the books? They’re cute and creative. There’s a hip Japanese influence and engaging storylines. The 6-year-old says, “They live under the sea in a big Octopod. They’re cool. They have adventures.” Nuff said.
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Lovely, lovely illustrations. If only as much effort had gone into the typography and the writing.
I didn't even realize there was more than one! Hurrah!
I like it, if only because the illustrations remind of Genndy Tartakovsky's work. I half expect a Samurai Jack cameo (that'd be one for the kids).
Ah, I thought the art looked familiar. These are the people who designed the characters for the winter olympics in vancouver.
Which I'd probably be more excited about if I thought that us having the olympics was a remotely good idea...
These are cool. The Meomi site in general has lots of good stuff, including the original Ot-to Tour (http://www.meomi.com/cinema/tour.html), which my kids used to beg for incessantly when they were toddlers.
I'm sure if whoever posted this spent more much time in Japan where 90% of all communication is carried out by, through or with characters/mascots like these, combined with all the less gifted MS draw wanabees hung around offices and public spaces reminding you to do whatever social duty is expected, they'd feel a whole lot less interested in these books.
What's worse Japanese kids force themselves to conform to the cannons of this particular style of drawing to get positive parent and peer comments, so it kills any form of experimentation in forms of expression except for the kawaii.
Kekko-desu.
Meomi also designed the cute mascots for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
http://flickr.com/photos/meomi/2089885033/
Gotta agree with Diannes... I have all three books and while the art is always fun to look at with my 3 year old daughter, the stories are.... *shrug*... weak.
The "Only Lonely Monster" is the best. The "Sea of Shade" seemed promising, and the art is definitely beautiful, but the story is boring and predictable. The "Frown Fish" story is the weakest of the three, plus the art isn't as good.
They should put a bit more effort into writing, or better yet, how about a Meomi take on some of the old classics?
Aw, #7 beat me to it.
These are fantastic artists, love them very much. I'm so glad you picked them to be featured!