Odder

By Katherine Applegate & Charles Santoso

Reviewed by Mia Macrossan

This American writer has won awards too numerous to mention, including the Newbery medal  for The One and Only Ivan. Odder, another story about animal welfare, is about the life of an otter loosely based on real otters cared for in the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey California. This edition is the picture book version, which has the added bonus of Santoso’s gorgeous artwork extending and illuminating Applegate’s text.

Otters are a keystone species, one that is vitally important to the health of a whole ecosystem. In the past they were hunted almost to extinction because of their wonderful fur but now they are protected. At the Aquarium people look after rescued orphaned otter babies until they are ready to be released back to the ocean. The staff use mature otters who are unable to return to help raise these pups.

This is all a bit far away from Australia where we have our own threatened species to look after but it is a measure of how well Katherine Applegate writes that you become immediately invested in one otter’s fate. Her writing gives an inner life and personality to Odder, the playful and fearless otter who becomes separated from her mother by a storm at sea and is rescued and cared for by staff at the Aquarium. There she learns to do all the things that otters do – use a favourite rock to crack open mussels, to groom her fur, to dig through sand looking for crabs and to use her tummy as a table. After being returned to the sea she enjoys herself until a shark attack means she returns to the aquarium, this time permanently.  Now an adult she finds a different role, one where her playfulness is very important.

Told from Odder’s point of view the story paints graphic word pictures, creates tension and shares all the emotions and sensations of living in the ocean. The illustrations by Charles Santoso  add emotional depth and show Odder at her playful best. Katherine Applegate has said ‘nonhuman narrators can give you a fresh perspective on the world, allowing you to say things, and to see things, you might otherwise overlook…it’s sometimes easier to view humans through a nonhuman lens’. This book certainly achieves that aim with its sensitive treatment of courage, healing, and human animal relationships.

A great book for any child who loves reading stories about real animals and an important addition to any school library trying to build up a verse novel collection.

Teacher’s Notes

UQP 2025

Katherine Applegate

Charles Santoso