Owl Babies

At some point, every child is in a situation, maybe just for a few seconds, where they are not totally sure that their parent is coming back. I can still remember the look on my kids’ faces on their first day at nursery school! That feeling is no different for the young owl siblings in this story, left alone in the dark woods when their mother flies off in search of food. 

I love the simplicity of this tale, and the language is beautiful. We often turned to it at bedtime in our house, and no matter how many times… show more.

This is my very favourite children’s book. I have read it hundreds of times and it still brings tears to my eyes.

It is a great book to read to children who are starting preschool, or nursery, or school. It is about 3 owl babies whose mother goes away to find food. They worry that she might not come back but of course she does. It helps children understand that their parent will come back at the end of the day.

The page where the mother owl comes back to the baby owls makes me cry every time!

This book was a favorite of my children who are now adults themselves. They still remember reading this book. This year, in fact, is the 25th Anniversary of the publication of Owl Babies. The story is about a very big emotion for children and that is the promise that mommy and daddy will always come home. It is about three baby owls who worry that their mom may not return. She has been gone for a very long time and the babies are trying to be brave by imagining where she is and what she must be doing. The… show more.

I read this to my children over and over, and I still adore it – which is probably the best thing a parent can say about a picture book! There’s something so clever and magical here, the little owls’ worry about their missing mother builds the tension even when you’re reading it for the fifth time in a day. And of course, she always does come back!

“I want my mommy” is the poignant refrain of the youngest of three owl babies as they await the return of their mother owl who has flown off into the night. “I want my mommy” is his answer to every comment and speculation from his sibling owls in this simple story that has a reassuring, satisfying ending. I love the directness and psychological truth and the wonderful predictable refrain that makes this story fun to read aloud with a child.