What do you think?
Rate this book
The Utterly Otterleys
The Utterly Otterley family live in a cosy burrow near the river where everything is just about perfect. Until Pa Utterly Otterley wakes up one morning and decides it's time to find a new home.
- GenresChildrensPicture Books
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Mairi Hedderwick
98 books23 followersAlthough she was born in Gourock, and attended the Edinburgh College of Art, the highlands and islands of Scotland have always been Mairi Hedderwick's true home. In 1962 she settled on Coll, where she raised her family and taught art at primary school. Her first home on Coll had no electricity or running water, and the nearest neighbor lived two miles away.
Mairi Hedderwick is the author and illustrator of the much loved Katie Morag series of children's books the first of which was published in 1984.
Hedderwick has also written and illustrated several travel books, including Highland Journey and An Eye on the Hebrides.
Mairi Hedderwick is the author and illustrator of the much loved Katie Morag series of children's books the first of which was published in 1984.
Hedderwick has also written and illustrated several travel books, including Highland Journey and An Eye on the Hebrides.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 3, 2014
Read Catriona's full review which is infirmative, but my criticism is based on one big issue I had.
I don't have children and bought the book in a charity shop so I can send it to Zimbabwe for children there. I love Hedderwick's illustrations and her Katie Morag creation, but the gender roles in The Utterly Otterleys put me off this book. It's very traditional with Pa bringing home the fish and sitting back filing his claws while an aproned Ma cooks them. Then Pa gets it into his head to move them to a new - and, it turns out, unsuitable - home, not taking into account at all what Ma wants. But "Pa always knew best" (direct quite) so off they traipse on a fool's quest until they end back at their original home, Ma acting like its the perfect new home to assuage Pa's pride.
They're animals, yet there is definitely very traditional gender roles I'd not feel comfortable with if I had children.
I don't have children and bought the book in a charity shop so I can send it to Zimbabwe for children there. I love Hedderwick's illustrations and her Katie Morag creation, but the gender roles in The Utterly Otterleys put me off this book. It's very traditional with Pa bringing home the fish and sitting back filing his claws while an aproned Ma cooks them. Then Pa gets it into his head to move them to a new - and, it turns out, unsuitable - home, not taking into account at all what Ma wants. But "Pa always knew best" (direct quite) so off they traipse on a fool's quest until they end back at their original home, Ma acting like its the perfect new home to assuage Pa's pride.
They're animals, yet there is definitely very traditional gender roles I'd not feel comfortable with if I had children.
December 15, 2015
I liked a map and illustrations and that's the only positive thing I can say. And that's is the only reason why I'm not shelving this as no-stars-for-u.
It's not only extremely traditional gender roles but also Pa Utterly Otterley's complete disregard of his family's suggestions and wishes, and their meek acceptance of Pa always knows best that makes this book horrible.
It's not only extremely traditional gender roles but also Pa Utterly Otterley's complete disregard of his family's suggestions and wishes, and their meek acceptance of Pa always knows best that makes this book horrible.
November 15, 2021
Beautiful illustrations, interesting relationship dynamics. I like that Ma's work is still seen as important (cooking is super important in the age of fast food). Pa can be a bit of a brat, and he has too little give - the move happens because he wants it, the food choices are what he decides, the new home is where he says. Ma is the better of the two, recognizing and giving space for the existence of Pa's weaknesses - a healthy balance of compromise for her. Sadly, the young otters barely get much page time, that would have been more interesting.
September 19, 2018
What a disappointment. Thought I would read about otters, but this is only confusing. Don't read this to children if you want them to learn about otters at all.
The otter Dad thinks one day that they all should move from their cabin by the sea. They take pots and pans (!) and other stuff to move to another home, although mother otter gets to carry most of the stuff and children otter are whining about the long way. I'm just confused.
Very large text, for new readers.
The otter Dad thinks one day that they all should move from their cabin by the sea. They take pots and pans (!) and other stuff to move to another home, although mother otter gets to carry most of the stuff and children otter are whining about the long way. I'm just confused.
Very large text, for new readers.
December 9, 2019
I like the illustrations, but Pa Utterly Otterley is stupid.
November 13, 2012
It is surely one of the greatest fears of a book-lover to return to a childhood favourite and find it changed and diminished. This made me wary as well as enormously excited when I saw the author and illustrator of my beloved Katie Morag (978-1849410885 £9.99 Red Fox Picture Books https://www.amazon.co.uk/Katie-Morags-...) had produced a book about a family of otters.
Katie Morag was distinctive in its beautifully detailed, realistic watercolours of the Scottish islands in which it was set, and in the hilarious family dynamics around which each story centred. My personal favourites were the Bad Boy Cousins, in whom I recognised brothers and cousins of my own. My mother particularly enjoyed dour Grandma Island and prim Grandma Mainland’s feuds- I suspect she recognised her mother in law and mother in them. I was delighted to find these key elements still at work in The Utterly Otterleys.
The lobster pots, seaweed ropes and general detritus of the coast that Hedderwick specialises in depicting are not typical of children’s book illustrations, and perhaps unrecognisable to children who have not encountered working British harbours. However, these are the backdrop for characters many children will instantly identify with. Pa Otterley is determined to do the best for his family, so determined that he leads long suffering Ma Otterley and little Otto and Ottina on an eventful tramp through the surrounding countryside. Similarly to Katie Morag, there is a map at the beginning of the book- I should emphasise here I feel strongly that any map has a whiff of adventure about it- and a hand drawn map which you can follow alongside a story holds a magical appeal for child and adult readers. The varied dilemmas and challenges which face the Otterleys appear here, as well as others you can invent your own stories around, although initially I was peeved not to find everything on the map was included in this story.
The Otterleys are more simple creations than the human characters of Katie Morag and I would suggest they were suitable for a slightly younger reader. Yet there is still a level of dysfunction in the otter family which I think an adult reader would be on familiar terms with and amused by. It is certainly a domestic story, and one criticism of Hedderwick’s work could be that this is a rather limited world. However, I think www.adoption-net.co.uk were right to describe this as ‘a gentle story which is ideal for bedtime reading with young children and the washed out watercolour illustrations add to the calming mood.’
There is a sense of calm despite trials in The Utterly Otterleys ,which I think is valuable to all ages of reader, and the overriding message of forgiving family foibles and making the best of situations is universal. If you like the idea of this I would recommend you also try Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem (978-0007450169 £14.99 Harper Collins Children’s Books https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brambly-Hedge...) which has more traditional but equally detailed, beautifully coloured illustrations and heart-warming stories.
978-0340873694 £5.99 Hodder Children’s Books
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Utterly-Otter...
Katie Morag was distinctive in its beautifully detailed, realistic watercolours of the Scottish islands in which it was set, and in the hilarious family dynamics around which each story centred. My personal favourites were the Bad Boy Cousins, in whom I recognised brothers and cousins of my own. My mother particularly enjoyed dour Grandma Island and prim Grandma Mainland’s feuds- I suspect she recognised her mother in law and mother in them. I was delighted to find these key elements still at work in The Utterly Otterleys.
The lobster pots, seaweed ropes and general detritus of the coast that Hedderwick specialises in depicting are not typical of children’s book illustrations, and perhaps unrecognisable to children who have not encountered working British harbours. However, these are the backdrop for characters many children will instantly identify with. Pa Otterley is determined to do the best for his family, so determined that he leads long suffering Ma Otterley and little Otto and Ottina on an eventful tramp through the surrounding countryside. Similarly to Katie Morag, there is a map at the beginning of the book- I should emphasise here I feel strongly that any map has a whiff of adventure about it- and a hand drawn map which you can follow alongside a story holds a magical appeal for child and adult readers. The varied dilemmas and challenges which face the Otterleys appear here, as well as others you can invent your own stories around, although initially I was peeved not to find everything on the map was included in this story.
The Otterleys are more simple creations than the human characters of Katie Morag and I would suggest they were suitable for a slightly younger reader. Yet there is still a level of dysfunction in the otter family which I think an adult reader would be on familiar terms with and amused by. It is certainly a domestic story, and one criticism of Hedderwick’s work could be that this is a rather limited world. However, I think www.adoption-net.co.uk were right to describe this as ‘a gentle story which is ideal for bedtime reading with young children and the washed out watercolour illustrations add to the calming mood.’
There is a sense of calm despite trials in The Utterly Otterleys ,which I think is valuable to all ages of reader, and the overriding message of forgiving family foibles and making the best of situations is universal. If you like the idea of this I would recommend you also try Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem (978-0007450169 £14.99 Harper Collins Children’s Books https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brambly-Hedge...) which has more traditional but equally detailed, beautifully coloured illustrations and heart-warming stories.
978-0340873694 £5.99 Hodder Children’s Books
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Utterly-Otter...
January 20, 2015
Mairi Hedderwick? Otters? What's not to like? Turns out there is something, but overall that doesn't spoil the delight of this beautiful book in which an otter family trail around looking for a suitable new home. "Pa always knows best" is clearly pretty ironic. As an adult, I can understand that Ma recognises that Pa just has something he needs to get out of his system and the quickest way is to let him get on with it (or so she thinks initially), but, I can see that where books are simply read to children rather than ever discussed with them, the depiction of her compliance, the way she is the one carrying their belongings and doing all the cooking is a concerning picture of family life.
February 12, 2016
Nice pictures, and I loved that it featured otters (one of my favourite animals), but the story itself was a knock off of a berenstein bear book we have (where papa bears is picking the best picnic spots)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews