Kelly reviewed Owl moon by Jane Yolen
Owl Moon
5 stars
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen is a timeless story about a young girl and her Pa walking through the woods to go owling. Their walk through the woods is so quiet you can hear the distant sounds of a train and dogs answering back. Jane Yolen did such an amazing job describing this walk that it makes you feel like you are right there with the little girl and her father on this memorable adventure. Owl Moon earned the 1988 Caldecott Medal, you can truly see why when you take time to really look at the illustrations. John Schoenherr used watercolors to create realistic drawings. Each illustration is a double page spread to give the effect of motion and the expansiveness of the woods. Vertical lines make the trees seem endless and the horizontal lines of the owl make it seem immense. As you look closely at the illustrations you …
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen is a timeless story about a young girl and her Pa walking through the woods to go owling. Their walk through the woods is so quiet you can hear the distant sounds of a train and dogs answering back. Jane Yolen did such an amazing job describing this walk that it makes you feel like you are right there with the little girl and her father on this memorable adventure. Owl Moon earned the 1988 Caldecott Medal, you can truly see why when you take time to really look at the illustrations. John Schoenherr used watercolors to create realistic drawings. Each illustration is a double page spread to give the effect of motion and the expansiveness of the woods. Vertical lines make the trees seem endless and the horizontal lines of the owl make it seem immense. As you look closely at the illustrations you notice all of the woodland creatures that the illustrator included as well. There are many smaller visual elements within the larger illustration. Throughout the illustrations you notice just how bright the moon must have been on this night. The long, dark shadows from the tree trunks, branches, characters, and animals created by the brightness of the moon. As I was turning the pages, I was realizing more and more that the illustrations are from a perspective much higher than the little girl and her father. I wonder if they are drawn from the perspective of the owl watching them as they walk through the forest. Towards the end of the story, the perspective changes as we look up at the massive owl on the branch. Again, the illustrator did an amazing job drawing the owl with such realistic detail. The light from the flashlight really brings out the owl’s features while it looks back at the characters. I think this book would be a wonderful mentor text for introducing personal narratives. The story is written as a firsthand account of a memorable experience. You could have your students think of a memorable experience they have had. You could have them brainstorm the who, what, where, when, and why of the story and then write their personal narrative of their experience.