#140 of 1001 · December 18, 2020

The newly fallen snow frosting tree limbs and blanketing the earth outside has put me in mind of an old classic: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr. One bright snowy night, a father and child go owling. They enter the woods and press on, taking care to remain silent; at last, the father’s practiced bird calls summon a Great Horned Owl. Yolen crafts an engrossing prose poem, interspersing sensory impressions of the winter walk with sage fragments of family wisdom passed down to the narrator from older siblings. Schoenherr achieves a tangible stillness with a muted palette of browns, grays, blues, and whites; his vividly rendered owl is an event unto itself. An interesting bit of trivia: at this year’s Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Winter Conference, I attended a breakout session led by the talented and prolific author @heidieys, daughter of Jane Yolen, who revealed that she and her father were the inspiration for the characters in Owl Moon. #owlmoon #owl #owls #owling #moon #forest #woods #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks