Hello, Octopus!

The orange paper octopus waves hello from a bright, colourful coral reef.

Fold 2, ages 6 to 8FOLD2AGES 6–8Fold 2 · Read Together
Ages 6–8

Hello, Octopus!

Start reading
Mila Hi, I'm Mila! Will you come to the sea with us?
Omar I'm Omar. Come and meet an octopus!

Mila and Omar are the explorers from The Paper Wild's octopus video.

The orange paper octopus sits on a coral reef and waves one arm hello.The orange paper octopus sits on a coral reef and waves one arm hello.The orange paper octopus sits on a coral reef and waves one arm hello.

Octopuses live in every ocean. Splish, splash! Can you wave hello? Hello, Octopus!

The orange paper octopus stretches its eight arms out in all directions, touching shells and pebbles.The orange paper octopus stretches its eight arms out in all directions, touching shells and pebbles.The orange paper octopus stretches its eight arms out in all directions, touching shells and pebbles.

Octopus has eight arms. Wiggle, wiggle! Let's count them: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight!

Mila Can you wiggle your arms?
The orange paper octopus glows from inside, showing two small hearts, one bigger heart and thin blue lines of blood.The orange paper octopus glows from inside, showing two small hearts, one bigger heart and thin blue lines of blood.The orange paper octopus glows from inside, showing two small hearts, one bigger heart and thin blue lines of blood.

An octopus has three hearts. Thump, thump, thump!

Omar Can you count to three?
A close-up of an orange paper octopus arm, its round suckers pressed against a seashell.A close-up of an orange paper octopus arm, its round suckers pressed against a seashell.A close-up of an orange paper octopus arm, its round suckers pressed against a seashell.

An octopus can taste with its suckers. Squish! What does this shell taste like?

The orange paper octopus squeezes its soft body through a narrow gap between two rocks.The orange paper octopus squeezes its soft body through a narrow gap between two rocks.The orange paper octopus squeezes its soft body through a narrow gap between two rocks.

An octopus has no bones. Squeeze, squeeze! It can slip through any gap bigger than its beak. Can you make yourself small?

The paper octopus is changing colour: one half is still orange and the other half is speckled grey-brown like the rocks.The paper octopus is changing colour: one half is still orange and the other half is speckled grey-brown like the rocks.The paper octopus is changing colour: one half is still orange and the other half is speckled grey-brown like the rocks.

Most octopuses can change color. Orange, orange… ta-da! Speckly brown, like the rocks. What color would you be?

Coral rubble with an octopus hidden in it, its bumpy, speckled skin matching the stones around it.Coral rubble with an octopus hidden in it, its bumpy, speckled skin matching the stones around it.Coral rubble with an octopus hidden in it, its bumpy, speckled skin matching the stones around it.

Octopus can blend into the rubble. Peekaboo! Where did it go? Can you find the octopus?

Mila Can you spot an eye?
The orange paper octopus shoots away, leaving a dark cloud of ink in front of a curious little fish.The orange paper octopus shoots away, leaving a dark cloud of ink in front of a curious little fish.The orange paper octopus shoots away, leaving a dark cloud of ink in front of a curious little fish.

Puff! Most octopuses can squirt a cloud of dark ink. Whoosh! Away they zoom. Can you say whoosh?

A brown octopus with fine dark lines walks across the sand carrying two halves of a coconut shell.A brown octopus with fine dark lines walks across the sand carrying two halves of a coconut shell.A brown octopus with fine dark lines walks across the sand carrying two halves of a coconut shell.

Some octopuses carry a coconut house. Tip, tap, tip, tap. The veined octopus hides inside! Where would you hide?

A mother octopus in her den blows water over long strings of tiny white eggs.A mother octopus in her den blows water over long strings of tiny white eggs.A mother octopus in her den blows water over long strings of tiny white eggs.

Shh. A mother octopus guards her eggs. Swish, swish. She blows fresh water over them. Can you blow softly, like her?

Hundreds of tiny see-through baby octopuses drift through sunlit water full of plankton.Hundreds of tiny see-through baby octopuses drift through sunlit water full of plankton.Hundreds of tiny see-through baby octopuses drift through sunlit water full of plankton.

Pop! Pop! Pop! The eggs hatch. Hello, baby octopuses!

Omar How many babies can you see?
A huge reddish, wrinkly giant Pacific octopus spreads its arms in a kelp forest beside a much smaller diver.A huge reddish, wrinkly giant Pacific octopus spreads its arms in a kelp forest beside a much smaller diver.A huge reddish, wrinkly giant Pacific octopus spreads its arms in a kelp forest beside a much smaller diver.

The giant Pacific octopus grows big, big, big! Whoa! But its egg was about the size of a grain of rice. Can you stretch out wide?

The orange paper octopus waves goodbye from the door of its den in golden evening light.The orange paper octopus waves goodbye from the door of its den in golden evening light.The orange paper octopus waves goodbye from the door of its den in golden evening light.

Splish, splash! Octopus is home in its den. Can you wave bye-bye?

Mila Bye-bye, Octopus!
Omar See you soon!

The end

Hello, Octopus!

See the printed pages
Front cover of Octopus: Eight Arms, Three Hearts, Fold 3The next fold upOctopus: Eight Arms, Three HeartsFold 3 · Early Reader · Ages 8–10 All six books

For grown-ups

Read it slowly and leave gaps for your child to fill: the counting, the sound words, the hunt for the hidden octopus. Each spread rests on facts from the series' checked fact bank. The notes on these two pages give them in plain words, with their sources, for when the questions start. A child starting to read alone can begin with Fold 1, Go, Octopus, Go!, and Fold 3, Octopus: Eight Arms, Three Hearts, tells the same facts to a child who reads on their own.

The facts behind the pictures

Octopuses live in every ocean, from warm tropical reefs to icy polar seas and from tide pools to the deep sea.

An octopus has eight arms and no tentacles; squid and cuttlefish have two tentacles as well as their eight arms.

An octopus has three hearts: two pump blood through the gills, where it picks up oxygen, and the third pumps it around the rest of the body.

Sensory cells in the suckers pick up chemicals as well as touch, so an arm can tell what it is holding without the octopus looking.

With no bones and no shell, an octopus can squeeze through any gap larger than its beak; aquarium keepers say that if the beak fits, the octopus fits.

Most octopuses can change the color and pattern of their skin, to blend in and hide or to send signals to other animals.

By matching the color and pattern of the rubble around it, an octopus can blend in and hide.

Most octopuses can squirt a cloud of dark ink at an attacker and shoot away by forcing water out through a tube called the siphon.

When we say some octopuses carry coconut shells, we mean one kind: the veined octopus of Indonesia digs up shell halves, carries them across the seabed and later fits them together as a shelter.

A mother octopus stays with her eggs, guarding them, cleaning them and blowing fresh water over them, and she usually stops eating while she does.

Octopuses hatch from eggs their mothers lay, one by one or in strings, usually fixed to rock or shell.

The giant Pacific octopus is the largest known living octopus; typical adults weigh about 45 to 65 pounds (20 to 30 kg) and span about 7 to 13 feet (2 to 4 m) or more from arm tip to arm tip, yet each hatches from an egg about the size of a grain of rice.

Most octopuses live in a den, a hiding place such as a crack in the rocks, a hole dug in the sand or an empty shell.

A picture book to read together. Big pictures, a line or two on each page, and sounds and counting for a small child to join in on.

Ages
6–8
Trim
8.5 × 8.5 in
Pages
32
Words
257
Reading grade
Read aloud
See the printed pages

From the octopus facts episode of our video series. All six books tell this fact too.