Book Review: We’ll Paint the Octopus Red

Stuve-Bodeen, Stephanie. Illustrated by Pam DeVito. We’ll Paint the Octopus Red. Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House, Inc., 1998.

We’ll Paint the Octopus Red is a children’s picture book aimed at middle to lower elementary students. The narrator is a young girl, Emma, who has just been told that she has a new baby brother, Isaac. At first she is upset, but then begins to think about all the things she can do with him: playing kickball, feeding calves at a farm, painting a picture with an octopus, etc. After she learns that her new brother has been born with Down Syndrome, Emma wonders if she can do any of the things previously imagined. She talks to her dad about it and “By the time we were done talking, we couldn’t find one of those million things that Isaac wouldn’t be able to do with me”

This book is great in explaining that while her new baby brother may grow up needing a little extra help. The little girl learns that having Down Syndrome will not prevent her brother from doing fun things. She can still teach him to paint with an octopus, learn to play kickball, etc. While yes, the focus of the book was around little Isaac’s disability, Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen shows that he will still grow up with the same experiences of any other child. The disability will not dictate his life. This is an important message to bring into the classroom also. Students with disabilities should still have the opportunity to participate in activities, perhaps with extra help. By using this book, students can help others with focusing on ability rather than disability.