Optics and the puppy is a great book for first through third grade. It tells a story about friendship by using a beautiful story line with amazing illustrations that followed the story. Otis was able to let go of his fear to find his friend and it was shown so beautiful that you ferget that the puppy is also afraid of the dark. ( )

Otis the tractor and his farmyard friends return in this third picture-book devoted to their ongoing story. When a puppy joins their ranks, the companions welcome him, incorporating him into all their games, including hide-and-seek. Otis becomes the puppy's nighttime comforter, when he is afraid of the dark. Then one day the puppy goes missing, lost in the woods, and it falls to Otis to conquer his own fear of the dark, and set out to find him...

Like its predecessors, Otis and the Puppy pairs an engaging, warmhearted story with beautiful, appealing artwork. The puppy's depiction, in particular, is very well done, and dog-lovers young and old will recognize many of his antics and expressions from their experiences with their own canine companions. I really enjoy these books, with their mixture of nostalgic and contemporary visual elements, and their sweet stories about friendship and good values, and this was no exception. Recommended to fellow Otis fans, to young dog lovers, and to anyone looking for children's stories about conquering your fear and helping others. ( )

This book is about a farm tractor named Otis. This little tractor works hard during the day and plays hard in the evenings with his farm animal friends. One evening they got a new friend, a puppy. They became very close due to their mutual fear of the dark but one evening the puppy didn’t make it back to the barn before dark. Otis pushes through his fear of the dark to save his friend; therefore, the dark wasn’t as scary anymore.
Loyalty, friendship, and overcoming ones fears are just a few things this book could teach young minds. This is a main reason I enjoyed this book. I think that reading should be enjoyable yet teach something at the same time. Personally I can relate to overcoming a fear to help someone you care about and through that learning your fear was not as scary as you thought.
This books words and illustrations use symmetrical interaction, this is when the words and the pictures tell the same story through different forms. I think this is a good thing for younger children learning to read. I also think that children really love when the character is not a person but an animal or household item that takes on human qualities, this is known as anthropomorphism. In this story Otis and his farm friends take on human like qualities such as, playing games in ways that we would relate to the human child.
I think this story line could go in many different directions and teach an array of different life lessons. In the classroom I think it could open a discussion and a writing assignment for the children to reflect on their personal fears. I also think it would be a good book to introduce the idea of anthropomorphism and have them illustrate and write a short story starring this type of character.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the illustrations put forth. It had a very well thought out theme and left it open for the child to think about their own fears. Through this story line a child could be moved to take on their own fears and that’s what reading is all about, empowerment of our youth.

Aww... great message about courage and friendship, and delightful illustrations, with the quiet interplay of subtle colors that give the reader a chance to create her own excitement about them. But somehow it just doesn't touch me deeply enough that I'll remember this after I return it to the library, or that I can unreservedly recommend it. ( )

REVIEW:
Otis the tractor, and all his farm friends, become friends with a new puppy. One day while playing hide-and-seek, the curious puppy gets lost in the scary forest. The whole farm crew searches for their new friend, but Otis works up the courage and continues the search after dark. The forest is full of scary shadows and noises, but Otis manages to find his lost friend and together, they make their way back to the comfort of the barn.

I think the theme of friendship is artfully woven into the plot of the book, as Otis courageously overcomes his fear of the dark to find his friend. In terms of style, I love how Loren Long used onomatopoeia, such as "putt, puff, puttedy, chuff" and "one-putt, two-puff, three-puffedy, four-chuff", consistently throughout the story to depict Otis as a tractor.

GENRE: Fantasy Picture Book

USE:
(1) Students could write or share with the class about a time they were courageous and helped a friend, or when someone was courageous and helped them.
(2) I could pair this with a lesson about personification, showing students how to make inanimate objects seem alive (such as the tractor). ( )