Otto Grows Down

A co-worker of mine gave this book to me for my son. We're expecting our second and found out it's a girl. My son (2 yrs old) loved looking at the pictures. He especially enjoyed the bathroom scenes on the potty and in the tubby. This will be a weekly must read once our daughter is born! Great pictures and writing!

The birthday. The candles and cake. The WISH! Otto, on his sixth birthday, feels rather neglected. You see, one week earlier, he became a big brother. No longer the center of attention, Otto takes his birthday wish to heart and wishes his baby sister Anna was never born. In theory, you'd think a wish like that would set things like they were before. Not quite so, as Otto quickly learns. The wish makes time go backwards. Yes, Otto's parents take his sister back to the hospital. But backwards time doesn't stop there. Time continues to go in reverse. Otto, to his dismay, grows younger, smaller and more frantic as each former birthday passes and he desperately tries to set things right. Some picture books are pure fluff. This book is not and that is a good thing. Otto Grows Down, the fascinating and funny children's book by Michael Sussman stretches the imagination. I can guarantee Sussman's book will make children think, particularly about jealousy and also the concept of time. Most kids with siblings will at some point develop feelings of resentment. Using humor, the book provides a good starting point for discussions with children about sibling rivalry. Otto feels awful about his wish and learns a valuable lesson, put best by the illustrator Magoon, "Otto grew up when he grew down." Besides the sibling rivalry slant, the book is very clever in other ways as well. While talks about jealousy are helpful, my preschool daughter found the fantasy of time moving backwards most intriguing. Before reading the book to her, I must admit to wondering whether she would grasp the concept or get scared about time in reverse. After a little explanation she so totally got it and loved the pretend aspect. In fact, she wants to keep talking about time moving backwards. So much so, that we've read the book nearly every single day. Her favorite parts of the book include the illustration of the wristwatch hands going the wrong direction and the bathroom scene. (Fair warning, the book contains a small bit of potty humor, something that all children seem to love.) The other clever point? Teachers and parents should find this book quite useful in teaching about palindromes -- words or phrases that read the same way backward or forward. All the names of the characters in the book are palindromes: Otto, Anna, Bob, Mom and Dad. Scott Magoon's mostly dark, cartoonish illustrations bring feeling to the story. His use of color helps display Otto's emotion, with muted blacks and grays showing his discontentedness and love inspired orangish-red when events turn around. On a sidenote, I personally think Otto has worse problems than the birth of his sibling, namely his father's choice in clothing. His father seems to make a habit out of wearing Hawaiian shirts, sometimes paired with cardigan sweaters and plaid pants. Talk about embarrassing. I know what I'd be wishing for on my next birthday if I were Otto.

Loved the story. It will be the perfect book to hand to a family who have a child and are expecting another.

Michael Sussman's first children's book is a humorous take on sibling rivalry and suitable for preschoolers and up. In the story, six-year-old Otto is celebrating his birthday when he gets upset at all the attention being given to his infant sister Anna. He wishes that she was never born and soon enough finds his wish coming true in the strangest manner - time moves backwards, and very soon, Anna is sent back to the hospital and Otto finds himself getting younger and younger. As he grows 'down', Otto begins to grow 'up' and learns the lesson of appreciating having a sibling. The story of Otto growing 'down' is told in a whimsical manner, and the full-color illustrations by Scott Magoon enhance the story, giving it a humorous angle that was appreciated by both me and my four-year-old preschooler. "Otto Grows Down" is a unique take on sibling rivalry and the concept of time moving backwards also makes for an interesting discussion point.

My daughter and I both enjoyed reading this book together. We both thought it dealt with sibling rivalry in a funny and clever way. The illustrations were wonderful as well. We highly recommend it.