The Octonauts and The Only Lonely Monster

The Octonauts

by Meomi

When the Octonauts, a team of eight animals that explores the ocean, help a lonely monster, everyone learns the value of friendship and individuality.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Adventure, Friendship, Monsters

36 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

MEOMI is Vicki Wong and Michael Murphy. Vicki and Michael both write and illustrate the Octonauts books - although people tend to assume Vicki is the writer and Michael is the illustrator - this might be because of Michael's wavey hair.

Meomi enjoys spending their time making up silly stories, drinking tea, and drawing strange characters.

Meomi's artwork has been featured in numerous illustration and design books, while their art has appeared on a wide variety of merchandise worldwide. They are the designers of the beloved Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic mascots (Quatchi, Miga, Sumi and Mukmuk), and have created art for such clients as Google, Yo GabbaGabba, Chickadee Magazine, Electronic Arts, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and CBC4Kids.

See more of their work at www.meomi.com

Reviews

[Pepper ˙ᵕ˙]

My friend literally read this to me out loud. I felt like a 5 year old.

[Jonathan]

My 3 year old son loves it (and the cartoon) and I have a soft spot for this story in particular - wonderful illustrations and story

[Jon]

Rowan has been really into The Octonauts this year. Every night for weeks there was at least one Octonauts book in the bedtime reading mix. Fine with me, because these books are great.

[Sarah Sammis]

Giant Squids seem to be making a comeback in literature. Maybe it's the recent news of squids, like the one that sank a fishing vessel off the coast of Japan. Maybe it's just a weird literary coincidence. One of those at the forefront of this trend is another delightful picture book from Meomi called The Octonauts and the Only Lonely Monster.

Of all the books in the Octonauts series, The Only Lonely Monster is my favorite. The team discovers a lonely monster who wants to go home. They search north, south, east and west in hope of finding his home.

The book and cartoon illustrations are completely synchronized. Readers have to turn the book in the direction that the Octonauts are headed, giving an added bit of playfulness. As they travel the oceans, the sea life speak the language of the neighboring countries.

As with The Octonauts and the Frown Fish, Sean and I read up on the giant squid after we finished our second reading of the book. A book that encourages further reading is a wonderful thing.

[Villain E]

"According to these charts from our super quantum computers, there is a huge probability that we are .... under attack!"

I'm going to let you ruminate on that for a moment.

My kids love the Octonauts cartoon, so we've gotten some of the books from the library. The show features interesting sea life which actually exists. So I was disappointed by this book about a fictional creature which is the only one of it's kind. The book is playful but wordy. Recomended if you want to teach your kids the word "cryptozoological".

[Melissa]

The Octopod is under attack! Or is it? The giant octopus just wants a friend like him...so the Octonauts travel the seven seas in search of another lonely monster to be friends. But when they can't find one, everyone learns a lesson in friendship and in embracing our differences!

The middle part where they travel north south east and west and the book pages turn with the directions was quite creative! And I loved all the different languages used by the creatures found all over the world!

[Wendy]

Liked it okay, but there are parts where the gang travel all over the world and while I liked that it showed different languages you can't read them all. I guess if you were really motivated you could learn what they all are. Anyway, The Octonauts and the Frown Fish is still my favorite of the Octonaut books.

[Qamar]

We are proud to hear you've explored "The Octonauts and The Only Lonely Monster" by Meomi. This story teaches us about the power of friendship and how reaching out can turn loneliness into companionship.

Even the most unexpected or unlikely beings can become friends when approached with an open heart and understanding.

Keep reading, and remember, everyone deserves friendship and kindness!

Love,
Father & Mother

[Sarah Alamer]

We are so proud of you for reading this wonderful book! You learned something beautiful - that being different makes each of us special, and real friends love us exactly as we are. The lonely monster discovered he didn't need to find someone exactly like him to have friends. Remember, when you meet someone new at school or the park, you can be their friend even if you like different things. Your kind heart makes you a great friend. Keep reading, sweetie!

[Kristen]

We used to watch Octonauts on TV all the time. They aren't aired on regular Disney channel anymore so I was happy when my toddler grabbed this at the library. It was a cute book about a very special Octopus who was very lonely. It was a perfect length for a bedtime book. The illustrations were true to the show and I liked the story. Cute book.

[Meredith]

A must for any fan of the television series, but also great as a stand-alone title. The humor is perfect for both adults & children (Dr. Shellington is the only sea otter in the whole ocean that wears underwear, and they picture him in his Christmas tree boxers! 😂 Too cute!) I also love how the story’s obvious punchline is that we are all unique in some way, and all deserve to be loved!

[Casey]

We got the Octonaut book set a year ago and they don’t come out too often. They are visually very engaging, but the written stories don’t follow the educational Star Trek-style formula that the show does. In this one, the Octonauts “travel” all over to try to help their new friend find others like them.

[Viviane Elbee]

Kids enjoyed this one. Great illustrations.
Best for kids who like the sea, submarine-like expeditions and adventure stories. Also good for fans of friendship stories.
The book has a large number of characters, which is unusual in picture books.

[Megan]

Beautiful illustrations, with a story about a monster who realizes it is the only one of its kind in the ocean. The ending seemed a bit abrupt, but overall M enjoyed it and has requested to read it many times.

[Joanna Among Paper Petals]

We love the tv show, so I had to grab this book when I saw it. It was cute just like the show. I thought it was unique how the book was designed at one point where you had to turn the book to continue reading.

[Alyce Caswell]

I can't say I'm particularly familiar with the Octonauts, but kiddo is so he enjoyed this - including the parts where we had to turn the book around (I enjoyed those less haha but it was something different, I'll give it that).

[Hannah]

Solid story, although I was a bit disappointed that it didn't have any information about the sea animal except maybe its Latin name. Learning about animals is one reason my son loves the show!

[Aiden]

It made me very interested in finding stuff about the sea

[Jenny Bravo]

Adorable

Alexander loves the Octonauts!
Imagine how dumb we felt when we found out it came from a series of books. This is our first and it won't be our last!

[Athena]

I loved the illustrations. They were very bright and eye-catching! Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Joseph Gilmour]

They try to find a habitat for him.

[Elizabeth Dollard]

Fun but not their best

A good read and I love the concept. I do wish the female characters spoke more. My little girl loves them!

[Y.Poston]

cute

[lol kids book& art]

Awesome kids book, the illustrations are detailed in a good cartoon-y way.

[Cristine Williams]

The Octonauts found a new friend!

[Ameerah]

that was the best book ever my favourite

[Kitty]

Great for a tv show based book but I got so sick of rereading this one 😂

[Janet Bruins]

Incredibly adorable!

[Mariah]

why is it that
the lonely monster
stays lonely

[Phil]

A little forced making the point that it is okay to be "the only one" of something.