In this picture book in the Nature Storybooks series, a child and her grandfather watch a family of barn owls nesting in a box that they have placed in a tree to help protect them from predators, as the trees and barns where they usually make their homes have been destroyed.
Their close relationship is evident in the way the grandfather gives explanations at the same time as encouraging the child to make her own observations. The central narrative is from the child’s viewpoint. Additional facts about barn owls appear on each spread in a different font. The main text and some vignettes appear on a sepia background, while Michael Foreman’s signature palette of shades of blue is perfect for the night time scenes portrayed in the larger illustrations.
Get to know these rare and beautiful birds in this warmly illustrated non-fiction picture book.
The little girl in this book has never seen a barn owl, but one day her grandpa puts a nest-box high in the old oak tree. They wait and they wait until one spring night, just as the sky goes pink, a pale face looks out of it, then takes off towards them...
Foreman's watercolour illustrations are luminous. - The Bookseller
Author
About Nicola Davies
Nicola Davies is an award-winning author whose many books for children include Ice Bear, Big Blue Whale and King of the Sky. She is a Zoology graduate, an expert in whales and bats, and has worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. She lives in Powys
