Owl Moon



Title: Owl Moon

Written by: Jane Yolen

Illustrated by: John Schoenherr

Summary: Owl moon is a story about a child who goes searching for owls in the forest on a wintery night with his/her father.

    

Owl moon is a beautiful story. The story feels like a winter night. Beginning on the first page, Yolen sets up a scene that is so silent and so heavy that when I was reading it I felt like I needed to whisper in my head. We become the child along for a ride with our Pa, searching for an owl, but not quite sure if we are going to find one. We can feel the wonder that the child feels as we try to keep up with pa. I love how the Pa is almost a mysterious character. Because we only have the child’s point of view we do not get to hear what the Pa is thinking. We do not know where the child is going and the child doesn’t either. The setting plays a huge character in Owl Moon. The child stresses how important the silent of the wintery forest is. The forest is such a big place that we feel more mystery and wonder.  The pictures compliment this story very well. The trees are so big I the pictures that it feels like the forest goes on forever. Schoenherr uses the contrasting white of the snow and the black of the night to give the forest an almost eerie feeling, as if anything could happen while searching for the owl. I think my favorite picture is the picture of the owl staring at the child and the Pa. We feel like that owl is the only thing that matters in the whole entire world, as we read how it felt like they were staring at eachother for a hundred minutes.  I think this is a great story to use with students when we are trying to show how writing can evoke a feeling. Jane Yolen does such a great job of recreating that somber cold night.