Pictures of Scotland.org Canadian Amazon Store

A lovely story for bedtime because of its quiet mood, "Owl Moon" tells of a little girl and her father who go "out owling"--walking quietly into the woods to hoot for owls and see if any show up. The little girl, whose name we never know, understands the importance of watching and waiting, of not complaining about cold toes, and of forgoing sleep and comfort to see something wild and beautiful that few people ever get to see. The larger lesson, of course, is that these are good rules for life in general.

Schoenherr's masterful use of blues and whites convey the sense of chilliness, dark, and snow perfectly. You almost want to pull on your mittens before reading the book. Highly recommended for all ages.


The Kid Who Went Owling: For Winter Weather/Animal Lovers   February 26, 2002
A child and his father go on an adventure to go owling. It's an exciting story with beautiful award winning illustrations.The author uses good descriptive language to make it easier for the reader to visualize the story.


Simple yet strong   February 5, 2002
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen and illustrator John Schoenherr created a wonderful adventure about an experience between a little girl and her father owling in the forest. Owling is the act of looking for an owl at night by calling out: "Who-whoo-who-who-who-whooooooo." To go owling you have to be brave and quiet. You don't need words or warmth. All you need is hope. This book won the Caldecott Award in 1988. It was written for children four to eight years old and is a great bedtime story for children.

The artistic media used is watercolor. The artwork made me feel as if I were walking in the woods quietly with the characters. Each page conveys the feeling of actually being in the woods. I also enjoyed looking at each page for hidden animals within the illustrations. The illustrator spread each drawing across two pages using space to illustrate the openness and size of the woods.
The story is told from the girl's point of view as they walk through the woods in search of owls. The setting of the woods creates a quiet space that shows a bond between a father and his daughter. The special time being spent by the girl and her father is never actually pointed out, but the words along with the illustrations created a feeling of spending quality time with a parent. It paints a picture of a memory that a child will never forget.
The sentences are short and there aren't many words, but the author's style along with the illustrations are enough to tell the story and leave your imagination roaming. The story is organized in a way that one action leads to another smoothly. It is told very simply and without the need of fancy words to get the story, mood, and thoughts across to the reader.
The illustrator used a combination of various lines. There are short, long, heavy, light, straight, and curved lines. Most of the lines are painted at a diagonal angle that creates a feeling of motion. The lines definitely convey emotions of tranquility and quiet.
Most of the colors within the paintings are warm colors like different shades of blue to create the feeling of a chilly night and darkness. They are also mixed with white to create a sense of space. The colors compliment each other wonderfully. The various shades of brown depict the trees and owl. I like the way that the colors are more defined in the front of the picture and blur away in the background to create depth. The illustrations and the way they are positioned and shaped make it clear what the subject of the paintings are.
The texture of the paintings is soft and smooth. They give the illustrations an impression of realness. They also provide contrast within the picture.
The composition of the artwork doesn't take away from the story. I believe that it adds to the book. Each page has a white space for the words and the images of the paintings are created around the words. Everything is blended together in a way that nothing stands out more than anything else, but the author still managed to make the story stand on its own without taking away from the artwork or vice versa.
The book format gives the reader or purchaser of this book a quality appearance. The first impression of this book compliments the story and artwork within it. A paper dust jacket covered with a clear plastic cover wrap around the book. On the cover you see big bold letters that clearly show the title Owl Moon. The title's letters are bold, but colored with a light blue, which blend in perfectly with the artwork on the cover. The author and illustrator are also clearly stated using a smaller font with bold black letters. The font used within the story is black and bold. It is set to a size that makes it easy to see the letters and is spaced perfectly for the young reader.
Each page layout uses what is called a doublespread, which is when the picture extends across the two facing pages. The doublespread adds to the effect of motion by having the reader's eyes move from one page to the other.
The pages within the book are big, smooth, and glossy. The pages used give it another sense of being a quality book,
The size of the book makes it great for read-alouds because everyone will be able to see the pages clearly. It is a great picture book that needs to be shared with children.
I see no reason why anyone would find this book offensive. There are no censorship issues within this book that I can see. The woods aren't destroyed, the animals aren't mistreated, and the language is clean and simple.
Owl Moon is a great adventure that can be shared with any child. It is recommended for children between the ages of four to eight, but I think that even adults would enjoy this story. I have never heard of owling, but found it fun and interesting. I even thought that one day I might take my daughter out into the woods to experience a quiet walk through nature so that we can experience the sounds of the woods. I believe that anyone reading this story doesn't need any background information to relate to what is going on within the story. It is a simple adventure that can be understood by any person, race, or sex.
I found the book to be heart warming and fun to read. It gives the reader a sense of importance in spending time with our family members. It also shows that sometimes words aren't needed to spend time with another person, just being with one another is special and memorable. Finding a book that conveys feelings of love and warmth with something as important, yet sometimes forgotten, like spending time with others is rare these days. I believe that the rewards a child can take away from a story like this are invaluable in today's world.