The Little White Owl

     Written by: Tracey Corderoy

Illustrated by: Jane Chapman

Magi Publications, 2010

23 pages

General Fiction

     I chose this book because I adore owls! Come on, how could this cover art not catch your eye? The Little White Owl  is a charming story about a baby owl who is lonely, but possesses a brilliant imagination and a gift for coming up with wonderful stories in his mind.. He notices that the sky goes on forever, so he decides to go see the world! On his adventures he meets owls just like him...only they have beautiful colors on their feathers, just like he does in his heart! The colorful owls, who thought he was plain, told him to go away. Still with joy in his heart, and along with all his stories, he shares some of his stories with the colorful owls...and they love them! The little owl gained a whole group of friends because of the joy, and the stories in his heart!

     I love the illustrations in this book! They are gorgeous! The medium is by paint, oil paint, and it is dreamy!

The colors are very calm and cool. The colorful owls are very saturated in their coloring, but the background accurately depicts the still snowy environment. The illustrations span the entire page, and sometimes the whole spread. The text is in the negative portion of the illustration.

     I think that all ages would love this book! (I love it!) Kindergarten would love the big, bright pictures and the simplistic wording. Older children would love to investigate the pictures more closely. As far as incorporating this precious story into the classroom, you could do several things. For kindergarten, you could practice counting the little white owls new colorful friends on each page. For older grades, this could lead to connections to real life lessons on the Snowy Owl, and other types of owls and the different environments they live in. Reading this story could also lead to discussions about the importance of an active imagination, and making friends. This book has no awards, but I don't know why not!