Hey Otter! Hey Beaver!
Best friends Otter and Beaver both love their stream--but for two completely different reasons! While Otter loves to play in the water, Beaver works hard to build a dam.
Hey Otter! Hey Beaver! is a funny and action-packed book about competition, cooperation, and friendship, by Caldecott Honor artist and Coretta Scott King Award winner Brian Pinkney.
Otter loves how fast the water in the stream flows; it's perfect to play in. But Beaver sees flowing water and knows he must get to work. While Otter plays with sticks, twigs, and branches, Beaver works hard to build a dam. When the dam is finished and the swirling water is quiet, the two friends decide to take a break. That is, until Otter plays a silly trick on Beaver, and it's time to start all over again.
Caldecott Honor artist and Coretta Scott King Award winner Brian Pinkney's playful text and bold, fluid illustrations perfectly capture Otter and Beaver's exuberant personalities. With themes of friendship, nature, competition, conflict resolution, and sharing, Hey Otter! Hey Beaver! is a standout title for social and emotional learning, as well as an excellent choice for bedtime and school and library story-times.
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Brian Pinkney has illustrated numerous books for children, including two Caldecott Honor books, The Faithful Friend, by Robert D. San Souci, and Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra, by Andrea Davis Pinkney. Mr. Pinkney's own books include Hey Otter! Hey Beaver!; Time for Kenny; Max Found Two Sticks; JoJo's Flying Side Kick; and The Adventures of Sparrowboy, winner of the 1997 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. Brian Pinkney has received the Coretta Scott King Award for illustration and three Coretta Scott King Honor Awards. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.
"Can two friends find a way to work and play? . . . Swirling, playful spreads show the two swimming about: fun-loving Otter frolicking, and serious Beaver constructing his structure. . . . With illustrations that ripple with warmth, this simple tale brings together themes of friendship, perspective, and empathy." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Told in snappy, reiterative dialogue that offers a chantlike feel, this portrait of two different personalities abounds with fluid sights and rhythmic sounds. . . . Friends don't have to be similar to get along, Pinkney shows; they don't even have to define fun the same way to have a good time." -- Publishers Weekly
"A playful and vibrant story of friendship. -. . . When they come across a tumbling stream, Otter sees it as the perfect place to play, while Beaver sees it as just the spot to build a dam. The two friends seem at odds, until a mishap shows that they can work together to both get what they want. . . . With a clear cadence and plenty of charm, this is an ideal read-aloud to introduce lessons on friendship and compromise." -- School Library Journal
"Odd dynamics don't spoil this friendship story . . . Otter delights in playing with sticks and branches in the rushing water, but Beaver 'really really really really' needs them to build a dam . . . Pinkney's big, swirling brushwork gives the fluvial setting plenty of visual flow." -- Booklist
"Each element in this playful battle of wills between two best friends exudes joie de vivre. Otter spots sticks and branches and sees them as toys. Beaver, however, sees them as tools to build a dam, and so the pair spends a happy day jostling over who gets the twigs. The patterned, rhythmic dialogue between Otter and Beaver makes for a musical read-aloud . . . This book is bound to become a storytime favorite." -- Horn Book Magazine
