Otis Dooda: Strange but True

Written by Ellen Potter

Illustrated by David Heatley

Soundtrack by David Heatley

225 pages – ages 7+

Published by Feiwel & Friends on June 4, 2013

Otis Dooda and his family have moved from the small town of Hog’s Head, to the big city of New York.  They live on the top floor of Tidwell Towers, neighboring a girl whose bedroom is on the ceiling, a boy who has a rare “French Gerbil Hound” (It’s really a miniature horse/pony, but the apartment doesn’t take horses, but it takes dogs), and some weird old lady. And it doesn’t help that there is some strange lady named “Ms. Yabby” who writes news that goes on in the Towers, called the Tidwell Tidbits – and, the fact is, most of it isn’t true, just rumors and gossip. That’s a problem, especially when it targets a new family in the Towers… The Doodas! And, apparently, Otis is cursed by a guy hiding in a potted plant, saying that Otis will break all of his bones before the next full-moon. Otis finds out that the weird potted plant guy’s predictions ALWAYS come true. What can a kid do?

I will say that I am a fan of Ellen Potter. I have read Spilling Ink and Slob. Ms. Potter didn’t disappoint me with Otis Dooda! It is a hilarious book! I really like the unrealistic (but possible) things that happen – it actually makes the story even more hilarious! I like the cannon that shoots you into a giant vat of marshmallow fluff, and Peaches (the horse/dog/rodent 🙂 ). The illustrations are pretty funny, realistic, and they are incorporated into the text, similar to  Diary of a Wimpy Kid, or Big Nate. The illustration style of the book makes it more fun to read. Otis Dooda is great character and I LOVED reading about him. He makes some really dumb decisions in the book (but what kid doesn’t) that leads to hilarious outcomes! This is a great story that is guaranteed to make young boys (and girls) laugh out loud (I’m a BIG boy, and I sure laughed out loud! 😀 )! I am already waiting for Book 2 (which is titled Otis Dooda: Downright Dangerous and due out March 2014)!

I give this book 5 out of 5 bookworms!

BONUS!  Did I mention that there is also a soundtrack for the book, which you can find HERE? Yes you heard me right! A book with its own sound track! It’s pretty good and VERY silly! Kids will love it! The soundtrack is written and performed by the very talented David Heatley (who also illustrated the book). It is based on the book and the 16-songs in the soundtrack go well with the story. I especially like the “Poodles of Mass Destruction” song. My sister liked paging through the book while the songs were playing and finding which parts of the book the song was about. The theme song is very catchy. In fact my sister and I sang the “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Dooda” for two days straight (then my dad started singing Surfin’ USA and we all agreed to just stop). You can hear samples of the soundtrack HERE!

Visit the Otis Dooda website HERE!

Check out the cool trailer for the book!

Categories: Age 6-9

Tags: bibliophile, book review, books, david heatley, ellen potter, Kids Books, literature, otis dooda, otis dooda strange but true, this kid reviews books