Octopus Stew

What do you do when an octopus captures Grandma? Put on your superhero cape and rescue her! Two stories in one from award-winning Afro-Latino artist Eric Velasquez.

The octopus Grandma's cooking has grown to titanic proportions. "¡Tenga cuidado! " Ramsy shouts. "Be careful!"But it's too late. The octopus traps grandma!

Ramsey uses both art and intellect to free her.

Then the story takes a surprising twist. And it can be read two ways. Open the fold-out pages to find Ramsy telling a story to his family. Keep the pages folded, and Ramsy's octopus adventure is real.

This story is based upon incidents in the author's childhood, and celebrates creativity, heroism, family, grandmothers, grandsons, Puerto Rican food, Hispanic culture and more.

About the Author-Illustrator

Eric Velasquez' awards include the John Steptoe / Coretta Scott King Award for new talent, a Pura Belpré Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a Carter G. Woodson Award.

For Holiday House, he both wrote and illustrated Looking for Bongo, and he illustrated Ol' Clip-Clop: A Ghost Story by Patricia C. McKissack (Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice Award Winner, Georgia Children's Book Award, Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year--Outstanding Merit) and New Shoes by Susan Lynn Meyer (Jane Addams Peace Association Children's Book Award, Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, New York State Reading Association Charlotte Award).

The son of Afro-Puerto Rican parents who encouraged music and storytelling, Eric grew up in Spanish Harlem, New York. As a child, he loved superheroes, comics and drawing, much like the boy in Octopus Stew.

He teaches illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology and lives in New York.