The Night Shift: Three Baby Owls

ONCE THERE WERE THREE BABY OWLS--SARAH AND PERCY AND BILL.

THEY LIVED IN A HOLE IN THE TRUNK OF A TREE WITH THEIR OWL MOTHER.

All is cozy and safe inside their house in the tree until the middle of one very dark night when the three owlets awake and their Owl Mother is nowhere to be found. The three wonder where she went.

Sarah is clearly the oldest. She thinks for a moment and suggests their maybe their mother has gone hunting. Percy perks up. He thinks that she must be hunting for food for them.  Little Bill has only one thought.

"I WANT MY MOMMY!"

Sarah leads her brothers out of the hole in the tree. She perches on a big branch. Percy sits on a small branch, and Bill sinks into a clump of ivy. Their eyes get even bigger and rounder. What if Mommy is lost? Percy wonders aloud if a fox might have gotten her.

Sarah is positive she'll be back. Percy hopefully suggests that she'll be back VERY soon. Little Bill sticks to his line.

"I WANT MY MOMMY!"

They wait nervously. Sarah suggests that they all sit on the big branch with her. Little Bill scoots in between Sarah and Percy. The forest is eerie, moonlit but shadowy and dark, full of spooky, rustling fronds and ferns and vines. Sarah tries to think positively. Maybe their mother will bring them some nice mice, she says, hopefully. Percy quietly supposes that's possible. They try to brave.

"I WANT MY MOMMY," SAYS BILL.

And then their Owl Mother is back, softly swooping down beside them.

The three owlets bounce with joy. Sarah and Percy claim they knew she was coming back soon, and little Bill just loves his mommy even more now that she's there, in the notable author Martin Waddell's tender story of the anxious vigil of the three adorable owlets, Owl Babies (Candlewick Press). Separation from a parent is a common childhood anxiety, and author Waddell deftly suggests the differences that age and sophistication makes in handling that common fear. With just the right touch of worry and humor, this is a bedtime story that both builds suspense and yet reassures youngsters of their parents' constancy. Artist Patrick Benson adds much to the power of this story with his striking pen-and-ink drawings, loosely washed with watercolors and textured with meticulous cross-hatching and stippling. A near perfect picture book for all. "... a hauntingly lovely book," says Publishers Weekly.

For a turn-the-tables view of owl bedtimes, see Jonathan Allen's story of a determined insomniac little owl, I'm Not Sleepy! (Baby Owl) here.