Owl Babies

by Martin Waddell, Patrick Benson (Illustrator)

Overview

A tender tale to remind the youngest of children that Mommy always comes back.

"I want my mommy!" Three baby owls awake one night to find their mother gone, and they can’t help but wonder where she is. What is she doing? When will she be back? What scary things move all around them? Stunning illustrations from striking perspectives capture the anxious little owls as they worry. Not surprisingly, joyous flapping and dancing and bouncing greet the mother’s return, lending a celebratory tone to the ending of this comforting tale. Never has the plight of young ones who miss their mother been so simply told or so beautifully rendered.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763679613
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/08/2015
Pages:	22
Sales rank:	38,963
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 2 Years

About the Author

Martin Waddell wanted Owl Babies to capture the "strong emotion of ‘I want my mommy!’" that is so familiar to children. Martin Waddell is the author of more than one hundred books for young readers. He lives in England.

Patrick Benson has won many awards for his illustrations, including the Mother Goose Award, the Christopher Award, and the Kurt Maschler Award. He has worked with such luminaries as Roald Dahl and Russell Hoban, and his picture book with Martin Waddell, Owl Babies, is a classic with more than 12 million copies in print. Patrick Benson lives in Scotland.

Editorial Reviews

Benson's soft, wide-eyed birds—rendered in delicate pen strokes touched with gentle color that makes the dramatic, dark night seem appropriately awesome—are perfect stand-ins for wise little toddlers who also know Mom will turn up—but still can't help wondering.
—Kirkus Reviews

A wonderful 'read to me' book for nap time, story time, or bedtime.
—Booklist

From the Publisher

New to board book format is Martin Waddell's Owl Babies, in which three worried owlets wait for their mother to return from her night flight. Patrick Benson's disarming cross-hatched pictures of fluffy, wide-eyed owl babies, and the use of light colored text against a black background, turn this sweet story into a hauntingly lovely little book. (Candlewick, $6.99 22p ages 18 mos.-2 yrs. ISBN 1-56402-965-4, Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Three worried owlets wait for their mother to return from her night flight. PW said, Benson's disarming cross-hatched pictures of fluffy, wide-eyed owl babies, and the use of light-colored text against a black background, turn this sweet story into a hauntingly lovely book. Ages 3-7. (Apr.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-- This simple story pales in comparison to the exceptionally well-crafted illustrations. Rendered in black ink and watercolor with an abundance of crosshatching used to show background, shadow, texture, and depth, each stunning woodcutlike panorama fills a double-page spread. Benson has chosen shades of turquoise, pale yellow, and light green for the large-type text in order to avoid detracting from the blue-and-green dominated paintings. Realistic as they appear, the three, fluffy, white baby owls and their mother are infused with distinct personalities. The owlets awaken one night to find their mother gone. Sarah, the largest, reasons that she is out hunting for food. Mid-sized Percy tends to agree, while tiny Bill will only repeat, ``I want my mommy!'' Mom, just out for a night flight, does return, of course, and her fledglings are delighted to see her. The repetition just doesn't work. The plot is too meager, the text too unexciting. Hutchins's Good Night Owl (Macmillan, 1991), Thaler's Owly (HarperCollins, 1982), and Yolen's Owl Moon (Philomel, 1987) are all better stories for preschoolers. Simple, well-written books about mother love and reassurance for this age group are abundant. --Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

School Library Journal

Sarah, Percy, and Bill, three small owls who live in the forest, wake up one night to find their mother gone. Sarah and Percy, the older and "braver" siblings, try to reassure themselves and their baby brother, Bill, that Mother has only flown off in search of food and will soon return; but the dark and silent forest is frightening and lonely at night, and deep down the baby owls wonder if Mother will really come back. They huddle together, trying to be brave but imagining the worst. Finally, Mother reappears with a feast, and the youngsters greet her with enthusiastic relief. Waddell uses pared-down prose and simple sentences to convey the owl babies' growing sense of loneness and then their happy relief when Mother returns. This story will strike a familiar chord in every small child who has been afraid when left by his or her parent, and parents will perhaps gain a new understanding of how a small child might feel when he or she is left. The quiet of the night forest and the little owls' sense of smallness are imaginatively captured by the velvety, black-as-night background and the softly glowing, jewel-toned colors of Benson's woodcutlike illustrations. A wonderful "read to me" book for nap time, story time, or bedtime.

Emily Melton