Otis is a friendly little tractor who helps his farmer every day on the farm. Otis is a hard worker, but at the end of the day he likes to play! He loves leapfrogging bales of hay and rolling down the hills. One night as Otis is getting ready to go to sleep the farmer brings a new calf into the barn. The calf instantly takes to Otis and they become best friends! Then one day the farmer brings home a new yellow tractor. The farmer makes Otis sleep outside so the yellow tractor gets parked in the stall near the little calf. The little calf does not like the yellow tractor and misses Otis. On a hot summer day, the little calf wanders off to the mud pond to cool off. She ends up getting stuck. The yellow tractor tries to get her out of the mud pond, but its loud sound just scares the little calf and she sinks deeper and deeper. Otis hears that his little friend is in trouble and putts his way to the mud pond.
Will Otis be able to rescue his friend? You will have to read the story to find out!
This is a great book for building schema through text- to- self connections. Since this is a story about friendship children can easily make connections to their life. They can also make connections to wanting the newest toy on the market and forgetting about some of their old toys. This is also a great book to create inferences. The reader has to infer (use text clues and background knowledge) how Otis and the little calf feel. The reader can also make predictions as to what might happen next in the story!
Go grab this book and read it to your child. I know they will love it! If your child ends up wanting more Otis stories, do not worry there is another one: Otis and the Tornado.
Some questions to guide you thinking conversation:
1. Read to: "...the scared little calf drifted off to sleep" and ask your child: Can you think of a time when you were too scared to go to sleep? What helps you get to sleep when you are scared? What do you predict is going to happen next in the story?
2. Read to: "And the calf made the games of ring-around-the-rosy all the better" and ask your child: How do you think Otis and the calf feel about each other? Why do you think this?
3. Read to: "Then he moved the big yellow tractor into the stall next to the little calf" and ask your child: How do you think Otis feels? What do you think is going to happen to Otis?
4. Read to: " ...but she could not get him to play like the old days" and ask your child: Why do you think Otis does not want to play with the calf?
5. Read to: "The farmer was fit to be tied. Who could save the little calf" and ask your child: What do you predict is going to happen?
6. Read to: "...Otis putt puffed from around the barn and headed straight toward Mud Pond" and ask your child: What do you think Otis is going to do? Why do you think Otis decided to come and help?
7. Read to the end of the story. Ask your child: What lesson do you think the farmer learned? What lesson did this story teach you?
Enjoy reading this cute story with your child. If your kids are little like mine there is great news! Otis is available in a board book!
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