Owl Babies

A charming, reassuring book for any child who has ever worried about Mummy leaving them alone, Owl Babies is a beautifully illustrated and exquisitely executed picture book to warm the cockles of the heart.

As three adorable Owl chicks sit on a branch in the woods their fears and concerns become very real as they worry that their mum may not return. The striking, dark yet somehow comforting illustrations cleverly enhance their mood as they sit, waiting and thinking, until finally all is well again. Enchanting, divinely different and ultimately reassuring, Owl Babies is a dream of a book. (Ages 2 to 5) --Susan Harrison

A Big Book edition is also available.

View other editions of Owl Babies.
View books by Martin Waddell.

Absolutely beautiful... - Rated
'Owl Babies' tells the simple but wonderfully-illustrated tale of three little owls who wake to find their mother missing. During their eager wait for her return, they consider where she might be...except for Fred, the tiniest of the three, who is so upset he just keeps saying 'I want my mummy!'.

Though necessarily simple given the age of its target audience, this would be an immensely reassuring story to read to any child having to spend a little time away from his or her parents, or perhaps one who dislikes sleeping in a room alone. The element of repetition in little Fred's dialogue lends itself to 'playing along' and the illustrations really are outstanding.

I came across this beautiful book whilst waiting in a doctor's office, and I'm so glad I did - I'll certainly be buying a copy for my own child when s/he is born.

A book about three 'philosophical' baby owls - Rated
which needs no formal introduction
from Martin Waddell.

This review is for the 1994/Walker Books paperback edition.

Larger size width, half height paperback with 32 high quality shiny pages in the popular 2-page spread format. Beautifully illustrated throughout, by Patrick Benson.

From the back cover:-

`On a tree in the woods. Three baby owls, Sarah and Percy and Bill, sit and think and wait for their Owl Mother to come home.'

"Touchingly beautiful....Drawn with exquisite delicacy...The perfect picture book....." The Guardian'

And the pictures are indeed wonderful, set in darker colours to represent the night time light.
Meaningful facial expressions add to the atmosphere and the story has a repeat element in the lines:-

(all owls think a lot)
and
"I want my mummy!" said Bill.

Clear light coloured text on the dark background with emphasised in places in capitalization or italics.

In my opinion, this book is particularly well set out with the text always being on the left hand page, so the younger reader is naturally drawn there on the turn of the page!

Example of text:-

`One night they woke up and their Owl Mother was GONE.
"Where's Mummy?" asked Sarah?
"Oh my goodness!" said Percy.
"I want my Mummy!" said Bill.

The baby owls thought
(all owls think a lot) -
"I think she`s gone hunting," said Sarah.
"To get us our food!" said Percy.
"I want my Mummy!" said Bill.......'

It is dark in the wood, so the three baby owls bravely stick together, sitting on Sarah's branch, as they ponder their Mum's absence.

All is well that ends well as Mummy swoops back to three excited owls `flapping and dancing and bouncing up and down' on their branch!

So disappointing - Rated
I am off to take this book nearest charity shop - an unwanted present. It is not funny, the pictures aren't interesting, yes it has a happy ending but this is after you have read that the Mummy Owl may have been eaten by a fox?! Not one for our book shelf I'm afraid, we will stick to our happy and funny stories.

Poor Hungry Little Owls - Rated
Yes I agree with the other reviewers that the central theme is about the little owls worrying about whether their mother will return. But everyone seems to have missed the fact that she returns empty handed (ok - with empty talons). One of the owl chicks even mentioned that she might bring some food back for them. It seems to me that the story is just not quite all there.

fabulous! - Rated
loved by my son it is a wonderful story, but also loved by other children when they visit,fantatstic an absolute must!
Helps leaving mummy a whole lot easier!