An Owl at Sea

May 10, 2019

PreS-Gr 2-Back in October of 2015, a Short-eared Owl landed on an oil rig 100 miles off-shore in the North Sea. Riggers who discovered the exhausted creature cared for the owl until it could be transported back to land and turned over to the Scottish SPCA, where it was rehabilitated and eventually released back into its natural habitat. Vande Griek recounts this lost and found story in straightforward narrative verse, leaving plenty of room for Wallace to add understanding and drama to this unusual tale. Crisp white verso pages feature the minimal verse and are juxtaposed with full-page watercolor paintings that depict each scene with clarifying details and essential perspective. A single end page harmonizes with the elegant simplicity of the text, offering readers background on the news report that inspired the story, information about Short-eared Owls, source notes, and suggestions for further reading. VERDICT A beautiful book that will be most appreciated in libraries where wildlife stories are popular.-Lynn Van Auken, Oak Bluffs School, MA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2019
Based on an actual occurrence, this picture book tells the story of a short-eared owl--a marsh and field dweller--that lands on an oil-drilling platform far out in the ocean. An owl is found on the deck of an oil rig in the North Sea, miles from its native habitat of fields and marshes. The exhausted bird is cared for by the riggers until a helicopter bringing in the new work shift and supplies takes the owl back to land and to a bird-rescue facility. There, the owl is cared for and eventually released back into the wild. This simple home-away-home story is delivered in author Vande Griek's emotive, poetic text, the spare words of which, surrounded by the white of the page, conjure up a powerful sense of place and action: "No place to rest, / no mouse to hear, / only the swing, / the roar / of the sea." Illustrator Wallace's command of the difficult watercolor technique in depicting the powerful heave and growl of the sea is exquisite--the two full-page bleeds of open ocean seascapes (some crossing the gutter) delight the eye. Alas, the illustrations depicting the oil rig and its somewhat racially diverse workers are less graceful, competent but not transcendent. The final page gives an informative overview of the habits of short-eared owls and lists sources and further reading.This home-away-home story takes flight with its poetic text and a few extraordinary seascape illustrations. (Picture book. 3-8)

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April 1, 2019
Preschool-G Far from home, a short-eared owl flies over open seas. Wings rowing slowly, / beating long, / eyes searching for field or fencepost, / but finding none. Exhausted, it lands on an oil rig 100 miles from shore and falls asleep. The riggers soon put it in a dry, sheltered box with a blanket and bits of meat until, a few days later, a helicopter lands on the platform. A worker bundles up the owl and takes it aboard for the flight homeward. After recovering at an aviary, the owl is released over a grassy field. Inspired by a newspaper account of an owl found on an oil-drilling platform near Scotland, this picture book tells the story through spare lines of verse text and handsome watercolor illustrations. The tension comes early in the story, when the owl's fate depends on finding shelter before it's too tired to fly, but children will continue to care about the lost bird throughout the precise, understated narrative. Wallace's watercolor paintings illustrate the verse very effectively. A quietly engaging picture book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)