Otis
By Anne Rooney
Author & Illustrator
Otis is an imaginary story, set on a farm, about a friendship between a tractor and a calf. Otis was a hard-working, energetic little tractor for many years on the farm. The little calf followed Otis everywhere. Their friendship grew and grew. However, as sometimes happens, the tried and true Otis tractor was replaced by a much bigger, very impressive, new tractor. Otis was put out to pasture, so to speak, behind the barn. It was a very sad time for the calf and his friend Otis.
Wouldn’t you know it, but one day the calf got into trouble and nobody seemed to be able to help, not even the big, new, impressive tractor. I’ll bet you can guess who saved the day! There was a great celebration and the farmer finally realized the value to his entire farm that Otis contributed. The illustrations are eye-catching and the subject matter of friendship and valuing the contributions of the “elderly” certainly contribute to the appeal of this book. This story would be good for children 3-7 years old.
Tomorrow’s Child / April 2015 / p 22
