Posted on by TracyC

Owl Babies

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson, 1992.

Sarah, Percy, and Bill are three owl babies who live in a tree with their mother. One night, they wake up and can’t find their mother. They think it over, and they decide that she has probably gone out to get food for them.

They wait for her and try to be brave, but they get worried that she isn’t coming back. Then, suddenly, their mother does come home!

The little owls are happy to see their mother, and their mother reminds them, “You knew I’d come back.”

It’s common for children to worry when their parents go away without them, wondering if they will ever come back. The story reminds young children that, even when mommy has to go away for a while, she will still come back home.

The book is available to borrow for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Owly

Owly by Mike Thaler, 1982.

Owly is a curious young owl.  He is always asking his mother questions, like how many stars there are in the sky or how high the sky is.

Owl’s mother tells him to go and see these things for himself, but there are too many stars in the sky to count, and he can’t fly high enough to reach the sky.

The story continues with Owly’s questions and attempts to find the answers, but all of his questions are unanswerable because they involve amounts too big to count or measure.

In the end, Owly and his mother talk about how much they love each other, and they compare it to the number of stars in the sky and the other things that couldn’t be counted or measured.

This is one of those children’s books where the story leads up to how much the parent loves the child (and vice versa). I’ve seen other books where the author sets up a cute way to talk about how much parents love their children, and sometimes, the set up is pretty obvious in this type of story. However, the message is still sweet, and this gentle story might make nice, calming bedtime reading. The pictures are as gentle and calm as the story itself.

The book is currently available on Internet Archive.