Otto the Owl Who Loved Poetry

December 15, 2014
Kousky’s picture-book debut champions poetry and one passionate aspiring poet, in particular, but his sleepy story seems unlikely to hook many readers on the form. While other owls roost in trees and hunt, Otto recites poetry in the moonlight, to the taunts of his peers. Otto finds an appreciative audience in the smiling moon and forest mice, with whom he shares a poem of his own. Curiously, it is Otto’s owlish recitation of melancholy verse by Emily Dickinson (“I’m nobody! Whooo are you?/ Are you nobody, too?”) that finally wins over his fellow owls. (Otto also shares snippets of poetry by T.S. Eliot, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joyce Kilmer, and Christina Rossetti.) Kousky takes advantage of the story’s nocturnal setting, creating shadowy scenes in milky violets and blues, yet the caricatured style used to draw Otto and his fellow animals clashes with these backgrounds, making the animals feel dropped into their surroundings, not part of them. Otto often appears forlorn and mournful, which seems at odds with the message of the power of poetry to lift spirits and inspire. Ages 5–8. Agent:
John Rudolph, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

November 15, 2014
A poetically inclined owl learns to accept his calling.In Kousky's picture-book debut, Otto the oddball doesn't roost or hunt like other owls, quietly preferring to read, befriend mice and recite poetry. When other owls in Otto's neck of the woods discover his eccentricities, they mock him. Sensitive Otto decides to run away rather than endure their teasing and soon finds himself so lonely he composes his own poem inspired by the moonlight. When he recites his poem aloud, Otto discovers a group of field mice who have been listening and now clamor for more. Emboldened by a willing audience, Otto begins to recite Joyce Kilmer and Emily Dickinson, coming to the realization that "[p]oetry should be shared with everyone." Such affirmation does Otto a world of good as other owls begin to find his proclivity for reciting T.S. Eliot, Robert Louis Stevenson, Christina Rossetti and the like to be infectious. Kousky's mixed-media, digitally rendered spreads warmly depict an animated Otto and friends against the inky backdrop of the forest's night sky. They visually encourage young readers to explore poetry as a way into relationships as opposed to isolation in a solitary creative world. Though quite Frederick-like in its poetic lure, Kousky's individualistic paean to the communal power of art is not without its own charms. Simple and clearly told, with a wonderfully engaging protagonist. (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)

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November 1, 2014

K-Gr 3-Otto loves to read books: specifically, he adores poetry. He is ridiculed by the other owls of the forest but finds a friend in an unlikely character, a mouse. Eventually the owls come to appreciate his recitations and begin to share poems as well. This book weaves in snippets of verse from such greats as T.S. Eliot, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Christina Rossetti. Unfortunately, the concept for this story is much more engaging than the actual execution. The text seems to jump from one topic to the next, and the message feels forced and awkward. Suggest Paul B. Janeczko's Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems (Candlewick, 2014) for a stronger introduction to the wonders of nature and the voices of profound poets. The mixed-media artwork uses inviting tones of blue, black, and brown, but the cartoonish owl and mice seem misplaced when set against the beatutiful sky and tree backgrounds.-Andy Plemmons, David C. Barrow Elementary, Athens, GA

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