Terry Vandiver (near top center) and Patricia Roberts (near top right) presented The Inky Octopus to several children at the Nevada County Library's Summer Reading Program. Photo by Tyler Cox.

About eight children from toddler age to 11 gathered at the Nevada County Library this morning for the next segment in the institution’s Summer Reading Program. This time things started with a reading of Inky the Octopus by retired teacher Terry Vandiver, assisted by another retired teacher, Patricia Roberts.

Miss Terry, as the children call her, provided helpful asides for children not familiar with words like predecessor as she read the book, which itself was laden with facts about the eight-armed sea creature. Among them, octopuses have brain matter inside their arms, thus giving them nine brains to our one. Much use has been made of those brains by Octopi in captivity who have found numerous ways to surprise us, like escaping overnight to eat crawfish in another aquarium or shooting ink at a light fixture to turn it off, apparently so as to get a decent night’s sleep.

After the book was read, the children adjourned to the library’s conference room, where they were each gifted with a bag from Noah’s Ark Workshop that contained the makings of a stuffed sea creature. The children each got their chance to put together baby ducks, baby sharks and baby penguins. While ducks are not technically sea creatures, fun was had all the same.