White Owl, Barn Owl

The experience of seeing a barn owl for the first time is narrated by a little girl whose grandfather has put a nest-box high in an old oak tree. When, after patient waiting, the owl landed just beside the hiding place she could have ‘reached out to touch its velvety softness’. There are some illuminating verbal images: when it raises its wings for flight the owl is ‘like an angel’ and its gleaming white face resembles ‘a pearly heart’. Atmospheric pictures show the barn owl in its night-time environment and there are telling vignettes of the little girl and her Grandpa as they sit on a tree trunk waiting for the owl to appear.

The special care taken over details both in text and in illustration makes this picture book stand out from some others on wildlife: the barn owl pellet is shown actual size with the tiny bones and skulls inside; young readers learn that the adult lays six eggs, the largest chicks hatching first. Young naturalists will value the advice about making nest-boxes in the note at the end.