"If I Had an Octopus" is an imaginative story that explores the playful musings of a child envisioning life with an octopus as a pet. Each page presents a new scenario, beginning with taking the octopus to school for show-and-tell. The child imagines the octopus aiding in various activities, like playing baseball with eight mitts or partnering in a chess game. The story contemplates the logistical challenges of having an octopus, like finding suitable clothes or shoes for its many limbs. There are also concerns about it mixing with a pesky sibling or making escapades around the house. Ultimately, the narrator comes to a thoughtful resolution, imagining the octopus finding a home at the city zoo's aquarium.