Owl and Moon

‘Everyone was snuggling down to sleep. Everyone, except Owl!’ This is not the soporific bedtime story I was expecting, but neither is it the riot of animal noises we find in Pat Hutchins’ classic Goodnight Owl: the fluffy white owl goes out to meet her ‘best friend, Moon.’ Moon and Owl dance together – but Owl is too busy to notice what is happening with Moon.

Moon fades, and Owl is left alone in the shadowy forest. As she confronts her loneliness Owl restarts her dance, and is joined by a bat, a moth and ‘a blaze of golden fireflies’ until slowly Moon reappears. ‘Owl knew that even when Moon felt far away, she would always return.’ Core messages that arise from this are laid bare in the dedication page where the book is dedicated to friends ‘who dance us through our darkness,’ and the whole story is not simply introducing the lunar cycle and the terms ‘waxing’ and ‘waning,’ but stands as a metaphor for friendship in times of loneliness and depression.

The observant reader will have seen the glorious, instructive endpapers (I love a good endpaper!) depicting, but not explaining, the 30 days of a lunar cycle. Just the moon and numbers, no owl, no face on the moon, in contrast to the charming title page, where Moon smiles down at Owl with an iridescent glow and orange-rosy cheeks. Moon, Bat, Moth and Owl are humanised but not fully anthropomorphic, and the artwork is beautiful throughout, from the stunning moonrise through sad Owl’s reflection, to the subtle glow of the moon on the mountains, and the story is told with gentle rhythm and immense sympathy.