White Owl, Barn Owl (Read, Listen, and Wonder Series)

by Nicola Davies, Michael Foreman (Illustrator)

Overview

"Few children now have access to the open woodlands and grasslands frequented by barn owls, but they can all enjoy the magic of the bird thanks to this lovely introduction." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) (Ages 5-8)

This vibrant new book-and-CD series brings the best of our Read and Wonder nature stories to life.

Each paperback title in the series includes a CD that features:
- an engaging read-aloud with sound effects
- a segment focusing on fascinating facts
- a read-along opportunity guided by prompts

A young girl and her grandfather look for a barn owl night after night. Will a distinctive heart-shaped face appear at the window?
Back matter includes further information about nest boxes and an index.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763641948
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/22/2009
Series:	Read, Listen, and Wonder Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Nicola Davies is a zoologist and the award-winning author of many books for children, including SURPRISING SHARKS, POOP, EXTREME ANIMALS, and BAT LOVES THE NIGHT. She lives in Somerset, England.

Michael Foreman has received the Kate Greenaway Medal twice, the Kurt Maschler Award, and the Bologna Graphics Prize. He lives in London and Cornwall.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 3
Simple facts about the hunting and nesting habits of barn owls intertwine with the story of two humans who put a nesting box for them high in a tree. Narrated by a girl whose grandfather explains owl behavior as the two watch for avian visitors in the evenings, the story also contains insets of information bits. Well-chosen design elements move both fiction and fact along with clarity and ease, with different fonts clearly separating the two. Foreman's artwork includes lovely watercolor and pastel paintings of the birds in flight and peering from the nesting box. Appealing shades of blue suggest the night, and these scenes are paired with beige pages or panels carrying alternate text. Brief explanations of feathers and flight, the contents of owl pellets, and the hatching of eggs pair well with the child's realistic first encounter with the barn owls. This simpler introduction complements Tony Johnston's poetic The Barn Owls (Charlesbridge, 2000) and Sally Tagholm's more informative Barn Owl (Kingfisher, 2003), which is for a slightly older audience. This lovely title will be enjoyed widely for personal reading and teaching purposes.
—Margaret BushCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Few children in the U.S. now have access to the open woodlands and grasslands frequented by barn owls, but they can all enjoy the magic of this bird thanks to this lovely introduction. One winter, a grandfather and his small grandchild (with longish hair but undetermined gender) find an owl roost, open owl pellets, install a nest box and watch patiently until spring when they are rewarded with the sight of owls, hunting in their fields and feeding a family in the box they have provided. The quietly lyrical text is accompanied by Foreman's quietly beautiful illustrations, carefully drawn and painted in textured blues and muted sunset colors, and scientifically accurate except for the oversized moon. Asides, with additional information, are illustrated in browns and printed in a different font, as if they were science notes made by hand. An endnote about nest boxes and a rudimentary index make this useful as well as appealing for the young reader. A worthy companion to Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr's Caldecott-winning Owl Moon (1987). (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews