8.4 /10 1 Votes
4.2/5 Barnes & Noble Publication date 1987 OCLC 15198290 LC Class PZ7.Y78 Ow 1987 Publisher Philomel Books | 4.2/5 Goodreads Country United States ISBN 978-0-399-21457-8 Dewey Decimal [E] 19 Originally published 1987 Illustrator John Schoenherr Awards Caldecott Medal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genres Fiction, Children's literature, Picture book Similar Works by Jane Yolen, Picture books, Animal books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owl Moon is a 1987 children's picture book by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr. It won many awards, most notably being the Caldecott Medal for its illustrations, and has appeared on Reading Rainbow. It has been translated into more than a dozen foreign languages, including French, German, Chinese, and Korean.
Yolen described the book as, "a positive family story. It's about a girl and her father. Usually stories of a little girl are with her mother. It is gentle yet adventurous, quiet yet full of sound".
Plot
The story deals with a father that takes his daughter owling for the first time on a cold winter's night. Along their way, they encounter a great horned owl. While it is not stated which gender the child is, Schoenherr's illustrations gave it away. According to Jane Yolen's website, she is actually Yolen's child, Heidi Stemple. The "Pa" character is based on her husband, an avid outdoorsman and birdwatcher. "I've become aware of nature through my husband", said Yolen.