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Still charming. One of those books that seems simple, as if anyone could have written it, but an experienced author has a deft touch that makes it special. In this case we have a mountain lion watching a wolf watching a fox watching an otter... all thinking about dinner... and a moose, if you can believe it," watching the mountain lion! That's just one of the special little bits, actually.

The Benchley dynasty wrote some damn good books." ( )

Oscar enjoyed playing on the otter slide, slipping and sliding down to the water with his fellow pups. But when the slide is blocked by a tree, he disregards his father's warning and decides to build a new one on the mountainside. This new slide is quite long, extending to the very summit of the mountain, and takes him quite a while to create. When he is finally done, one wintry night, he finds himself pursued by a fox, who is in turn pursued by a wolf, who is pursued by a mountain lion, who is watched by a moose. Will Oscar get back to his lake in time, or will he be caught...?

An early reader that I greatly enjoyed as a child, Oscar Otter was first published in 1966, and is illustrated by the marvelous Arnold Lobel, creator of such classic characters as Frog and Toad. The humor of the tale, in which a series of progressively larger animals follow one another, always appealed to me, and held up on this adult rereading. The moose, in particular, who thinks he's part of a circus parade at first, only to conclude that all of the rest of the animals are crazy, always makes me chuckle. The conclusion of the story, in which Oscar safely reaches home, was always deeply satisfying to me as a child. The artwork, as could be expected from Lobel, is immensely appealing. Recommended to anyone looking for good early readers featuring animal fiction. ( )

I liked this book but it seemed very repetitive in some areas and kind of bland. However, it had a great moral to the story, to teach kids to always listen to their parents. The ending ended happily as the otter was grateful to be home after his adventurous day.

The first book I ever read to someone. Just wonderful. ( )