Owly & Wormy, Bright Lights and Starry Nights

November 19, 2012
In Owly and Wormy’s second picture book, the unlikely companions (who first starred in a series of comic books) search for a way to see the stars through their telescope. Mostly wordless graphic novel–style panels in deep violets and greens show the friends embarking on a camping trip to get a good view (Owly’s tree house has too many leafy obstructions and other problems). Runton’s streamlined storytelling has the friends speaking in rebuses and images instead of words; when Owly gets lost in the woods, his thought bubble—joined by a question mark—is filled with four arrows pointing different ways. Bravery, inventiveness, and friendship factor strongly in a clever nocturnal adventure that’s a pleasure to decode. Ages 3–7.

Starred review from September 15, 2012
The small owl with big eyes and equally outsized heart makes new friends on a nocturnal outing. Discovering that their view of the sky has been blocked by tree leaves, Owly and his little vermiform housemate march out to set up their new telescope on a woodland hilltop. When heavy rains drive them into a cave that night, and eerie "Clickety skreeeeeeeee" noises send them scrambling back out, the telescope goes missing. This prompts Owly to screw his courage to the sticking place, leave his shivering buddy behind and set off on a search. As in Owly's previous picture-book (Friends All Aflutter, 2011) and graphic-novel appearances, the tale is told in big, easy-to-grasp sequential cartoons, with wordless pictures and signs in balloons creating a nonverbal language that serves just fine in place of narration or dialogue. Owly returns in triumph with not only the telescope, but a set of friendly bats to explain the scary sound effects. In a final bit of both plot and emotional resolution, Wormy's fear of the dark is transformed to delight as the camp's candle is blown out, and the seemingly empty skies overhead suddenly blaze with stars. Young readers and pre-readers alike will respond strongly to the tale's elemental drama and clearly defined emotional arc. (Graphic picture book. 2-5)

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October 1, 2012

K-Gr 3-If Owly and Wormy want to look at the stars at night, they will have to be resourceful, and brave. Lanterns and candles will make the darkness seem less scary, but the screeching noise they hear outside seems to be following them. When they lose their telescope on the way to their campsite, Owly hesitantly goes back into the woods to retrieve it. Instead of running into a scary monster in the dark, though, he meets a trio of friendly bats who help Wormy enjoy the stars despite being surrounded by the darkness of night. This is Runton's second wordless picture book based on the graphic-novel series. Simple illustrations and punctuation marks (a sad face followed by a question mark) replace the words that would normally appear in the characters' word balloons. Runton's charming drawings add to the irresistibility of this touching story.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada

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