Little Owl's Day

July 15, 2014
In this sequel to Srinivasan's debut picture book, Little Owl's Night (2011), the little owl explores the unfamiliar territory of the daytime world.His big black eyes almost pop out of his head as he sees the sun for the first time and all the wonderful things it illuminates: birds, flowers, bees and butterflies-which he at first mistakes for moths, his only prior experience of winged insects. In this sparkling new world, dragonflies skim over the water, snakes slide and glide, turtles sun themselves beside the pond, and wolf pups play in the sunshine. Little Owl's old friend, Bear, is awake now, ready to show the little bird the beauty of a shimmering rainbow over a waterfall. As the sun sets and the moon rises, the world becomes more familiar to the little owl, although there are still some surprises, such as the discovery that a friendly bunny lives in a burrow right underneath his treetop home. At last he is able to fulfill his dream of showing Bear the moon. The tiny owl flits through richly colored landscapes populated with graceful, stylized renderings of the animals and birds. Through carefully controlled application of color washes and linear patterns, Srinivasan conveys the magic of a fantasy world that will delight very young children and their caregivers.A welcome return for Little Owl. (Picture book. 2-6)

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July 1, 2014

PreS-K-In this companion book to Little Owl's Night (Viking, 2011), a squirrel's chittering wakes Little Owl, affording him an opportunity to experience his forest world in daylight for the first time. Wrens, so silent at night, are "trilling sweetly"; butterflies and bees flutter among the flowers covering the forest floor; dragonflies fly backwards as they skim along the pond. Turtle, closed in her shell at night, now suns herself on the rocks. Yes, the forest is indeed a different and magical place during the day. Yet another wonder awaits Little Owl when his friend Bear, now awake and hunting fish, shows him a beautiful rainbow. The large, flat illustrations, all spreads, depict a cheery forest habitat in varying shades of blue and green and enlivened with colorful insects and other forest creatures. Little Owl, with his squat body and huge black-green eyes, hovers over most spreads, taking everything in. As day begins to fold into night and the sky darkens to blue-black, he shares his adventures with the night creatures that begin to appear. And before he catches up on his much-needed sleep, the little bird has a wonder to show Bear, too-the newly risen moon. Young readers will enjoy following Little Owl on his explorations, and this story, paired with Ashley Wolff's Baby Bear Sees Blue (S. & S., 2012), can instill in them a sense of wonder at the natural world.-Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT

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