Owl Moon

Philomel Books, 1987

"I had been waiting
to go owling with Pa
for a long, long time."

---

Jane Yolen

John Schoenherr

Yolen ( 1939 -  ), one of my favorite authors, has written over 350 children's books and is the winner of the Caldecott Award - twice - as well as the Regina Medal for her body of children's literature.  She wrote Love You Like Crazy Cakes - an incredible picture book about adoption. Yolen was inspired to write Owl Moon based on winter owling nights in Massachusetts with her husband and three young children.

Schoenherr (1935 - 2010) thought about a career in biology before attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. As a freelance illustrator he drew for Analog, a science fiction magazine, and illustrated scores of book jackets for science fiction authors
Herbert, Dick, Brunner and McCaffrey.
Schoenherr's illustrations for children's books include Rascal, Julie of the Wolves and Gentle Ben among many others. The illustrations in Owl Moon are inspired by the Schoenherr family farm.

---

Book Synopsis

A poetic story of the first night the youngest daughter in the family goes owling with her father. The two walk silently though the winter woods hoping to hear an owl - sometimes you don't hear one. And closes with

"When you go owling
you don't need words
or warm
or anything but hope.
That's what Pa says.
The kind of hope
that flies
on silent wings
under a shining
Owl Moon."

---

Picture book, early chapter book readers, 30 pages. A poetic story of the first night the youngest daughter in the family goes owling with her father.

---

Learning Options

Family Read Aloud Time
This is a lovely story to read after dinner or just before bed all cuddled together on the sofa. Younger and older children will enjoy the poetry as well as the ink and watercolor illustrations.

Classroom Resource
Owl Moon is an excellent classroom resource to use in a unit on birds. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers a free 10-month bird identification curriculum based on NGSS Practice Standards. The Audubon Society offers a STEM-based classroom curriculum; many of the elements are free online, but there is a minimal fee for access to the complete curriculum:

• Feathered Friends, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Owl Prowl at Adventures for Young Nature Lovers, Audubon Society

Learning at Home
A wonderful aspect of teaching your children at home is the opportunity to use a single topic or concept -- even a single book -- in as many ways as you think is best for your child.  In addition to including Owl Moon for studying owls or a unit on birds, it is great for lessons about the First Nations' lunar calendar and as part of a larger unit about the moon.

• Thirteen Moons, Ontario Native Literacy Coalition
• The Moon, Mensa for Kids

---