ODDER
Grades 4 and Up
Katherine Applegate
Feiwel & Friends
ISBN-13 :978-1250147424
228 pp.
Summary
Mischievous and inquisitive Odder spends her days in the Pacific waters off the coast of Monterey Bay, California. When one of her adventures leads to trouble, Odder must rely on the human scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Center for help. This gentle tale based on the real Monterey Bay Aquarium Center Otter Rehabilitation Program will have readers falling in love with Odder as they learn about her resilient species and the steps being made to ensure their survival.
Curriculum Connections
See A Teacher's Guide to Odder which includes discussion questions and activities.
Science
Take a virtual field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to learn about their extraordinary sea otter rehabilitation program.
Watch live cam of the otters living at the Aquarium.
See this Teaching Guide for an activity on “How Muscle Cells Keep Otters Warm”
Sea otters are rebounding from near-extinction Read about it here.
Art
Language Arts/Creative Writing
Write haikus about sea otters and illustrate using Japanese woodblock printing.
Example:
Sea otters dive deep
Beneath the cold blue waters
Clowns under the waves
Math
From Bedtime Math, see One Way or the Otter.
Discussion Questions
How does the cover of Odder make you feel? Was this illustration a good choice for the cover? Do you think that the cover of a book affects how you choose a book?
After reading Odder, do you feel like you want to help an environmental cause? If so, which one?
Odder’s nickname is “The Queen of Play.” Do you think that is a good name for her? How does being “The Queen of Play'' get her into trouble?
Why are the otters at the aquarium given numbers, not names? What does it mean when an otter is given a real name? Do you think the name the scientist gave Odder was a good fit for her?
At first Odder is sad when she learns that the scientists have given her a name. What happens to change her outlook and give her hope again?
Vocabulary
Aloft (p. 9)
Aloof (p. 11)
Pirouettes (p. 18)
Succulent (p. 21)
Slough (p. 24)
Frenzied (p. 56)
Vaulted (p. 130)
Peppered (p. 156)
Vague (p. 191)
Luxurious (p, 210)
Author Online
Award-winning author Katherine Applegate claims that the best part of being a writer is getting to wear pajamas and make up stories all day – though she also loves the chance to meet young readers. She lives in California. See an interview with Katherine from Reading Rockets here and read a discussion of Odder from the Children’s Book Review here. Find her on X (Twitter) at @kaaauthor and on Instagram.
Companion Books
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Rosanne Parry (Greenwillow, 2021)
Swift, a young wolf cub, loses home and family after an attack by a rival pack, and sets off on a perilous 1000-mile journey to find a new home.
Firstborn
Tor Seidler (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 2016)
Blue Boy, alpha wolf of his pack, is disappointed in his un-wolfish oldest son Lamar, who likes to watch butterflies and – worse – has fallen for a coyote.
Pax
Sara Pennypacker (Balzer + Bray, 2019)
In time of war, Peter’s dad has him return his pet fox, Pax, to the wild – but the two then set out to find each other again.
Wayward Creatures
Dayna Lorentz (Clarion, 2022)
Gabe, lonely and bored, sets off a small forest fire and is then tasked with cleaning it up. While doing so, he finds a lost coyote, Rill, who has wandered too far from her family in search of adventure - and the two wayward creatures form a bond.
Cress Watercress
Gregory Maguire (Candlewick, 2022)
After losing their father, the Watercress family of rabbits moves to a basement apartment in the Broken Arms, a hollow oak presided over by an owl. It’s a dangerous world for rabbits – but Cress soon learns to make new animal friends and to cope with everything from a waterfall accident to Tunk the Honeybear.
Nuts to You
Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow, 2016)
Jed, TsTs, and Chai, squirrels, are best buddies – so when Jed is snatched by a hawk, TsTs and Chai are determined to go after him, making new friends and encountering dangers along the way.
Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem
Patricia Newman (Lerner Publishing Group, 2017)
A nonfiction account of how sea otters on the California coast affect the food chain by preserving the aquatic seagrass.