Review by Win Wiacek

If you give them a chance and the right material, kids love to read. Happily, these days there’s a grand renaissance of books for the next generation to cut their milk-teeth on. Thanks to the dedication of folk like David Fickling Books (and their wonderful comic The Phoenix) in Britain and Toon Books/Raw Junior in the USA, there are plenty of avenues for youngsters to grow up reading comics too.

This one comes courtesy of award-winning political cartoonist Frank Cammuso who joins legendary industry giant Jay Lynch to relate a boisterous and visually flamboyant yarn of foolish enthusiasm.

Otto is a ginger cat and utterly obsessed. He’s always said – long and loud and often – that orange is “My Favorite Color”. He proclaims it in verse and through dance, and even has a song about the best hue in the world. That’s why his Aunt Sally Lee sends him an old lamp she found in a store. It’s pretty dusty and banged up, but beneath the grime, it gleams orange!

Otto gives the old a thorough dusting and is amazed to see a gigantic blue genie offering him one wish. Otto has no doubts what it should be. Opening the door he finds the entire world painted in shades of the greatest colour of all. He can’t wait for winter when he can make orange snowmen!

However, there are downsides. The roads are more dangerous, people are hard to recognise and even Otto can’t stomach orange lamb chops with orange mashed potatoes and orange spinach! Can he put things back the way they were?

Aimed at the five-and-over age-range, this splendidly child-sized (152 x126 mm) tome is a gloriously evocative, sleekly exciting kid-friendly caper, produced in 32-page, full-colour landscape format. It’s the kind of illustrated extravaganza kids of all ages will adore and probably fight over.