While we were reading “Owl Moon” by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr this week we found these supplemental books that we loved from the library:
“Good-Night Owl!” by Pat Hutchins — beautifully unique illustrations with rich detail with simple repetitive words listing other birds and the sounds they make to keep the owl awake all day.
“Owl Babies” by Marin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson — illustrated using black ink and watercolor crosshatching three owl siblings wait for their Mommy to return from her hunt with their breakfast.
“Owl Sees Owl” by Laura Godwin & Rob Dunlavey — a poetic list of words first forward coming together in the middle of the book with the words “owl”, “sees”, “owl” and then the same words in reverse order. A unique word symmetry poem with lovely mixed media illustrations. This was a good learning-to-read book for my 1st grade son. Some of the words were really hard to sound out but they are in large print and there are only a few words per page.
“The Owl and The Pussy-Cat: based on the poem by Edward Lear” by Hilary Knight — I read the poem “The Owl and the Kitty-Cat”because of the unfortunate connotations of the word “pussy” I don’t want my kiddos to go around saying it. This book has amazing illustrations with incredible detail. Knight depicts two children with animal characteristics in a appropriate and adorable manner. The classic poem is truly enhanced in such a marvelous way with his stunning watercolors.
“The Owl and the Woodpecker” by Biran Wildsmith — bright, bold, and almost Picasso-ish illustrations bring this story of being good neighbors to life. This story has a wonderful moral that is reminiscent of Aesop’s timeless fable “The Lion and the Mouse”.
“White Owl, Barn Owl” by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Michael Foreman — this book tells another tale of looking for owls. A girl and her grandfather build a nesting box and patiently wait for an owl to find the new home. This book also includes many facts about owls.
“Owls” (The Kids Can Press Wildlife Series) by Adrienne Mason, illustrated by Nancy Gray Ogle — A fact book about owls.
Recommended in “Five In A Row” by Jane Claire Lambert: “Owl Lake” by Tejima — this book won the Japan Prize for Outstanding Picture Books in 1983. “The Great White Owl of Sissinghurst” by Dawn Langley Simmons, illustrated by S.D. Schindler — a story set in an English Castle, three children find an injured owl and the castle’s caretaker attempts to help.
Our family field trip this week was to Gray Lodge in Gridley, CA where we walked along level paths to view different types of water birds. We also drove along the auto-tour road and saw a stunning view of the Sutter Butte Mountain Range with water birds like Egrets filling the foreground. I highly recommend this as a family Sabbath activity for families with a broad range of ages. Our youngest is a 2-yr-old toddler while our oldest is 68-yr-old Grandfather. Everyone had a lovely afternoon.
Update: 11/26/17
Here is a cute owl moon snack that I found online and modified for our “delicate” pallets. Made to order with either a peanut butter base or plain, apple slice wings, banana slices with raisin centers for the eyes, and carrot branches and beaks.
heavens to betty 