Owl Moon
By Jane Yolen
Illustrated by John Schoenherr
Laptime: preschool - 3rd grade
Story Circle: preschool - 3rd grade
We have an owl that lives in the woods behind our house. Occasionally people hear its call. Unfortunately it discovered that our chickens make a delicious breakfast. But I still enjoy the thought that there is an owl in the woods.
In the book Owl Moon a father takes his child into the woods to go owling. The father calls to the owl, "Whoo, whoo, who, who, who, whoooooo" and they wait for the owl to answer back. The suspense builds as you wonder whether they will discover an owl or not. The relationship of trust between father and child is depicted simply and beautifully. The lessons of courage, strength, self discipline and appreciation of the world around are taught through the adventure of owling. I love Jane Yolen's word pictures and the Caldecott winning illustrations work together with her words in wonderful harmony.
Laptime Activities:
- Go through the book and look at the illustrations. See if you can find the different forest creatures that the illustrator added. What page do you first see the owl's shadow?
- Follow this book with a nonfiction book about owls. Make a list of what you learned.
- Go outside and practice calling owls. Call them softly, call them loudly, call them with a high voice and with a low voice.
Story Circle Activities:
- Paper bag owl puppets: You will need - one lunch size paper bag per child, crayons or markers, construction paper, scissors, glue sticks. Have the children cut 3 small triangles out of construction paper ( or if your preschoolers are younger, have the triangles precut). Lay the bag on the table upsidedown with the bottom of the bag on top and the folded flap facing out. The flap will be the owl's face and mouth. Glue two of the triangles on the top corners of the bag. Glue the other triangle upside down in the middle of the bottom of the flap. This will be the owl's beak. Use crayons or markers to draw large circle eyes on the face. Tear construction paper into small pieces and glue them to the body overlapping as mush as possible. These are the feathers. For younger preschoolers you may want to let them draw the feathers with markers.
- Owl calling: Divide the class into two groups. Have one group stand at one end of the classroom and the other group stand at the opposite side. Group one can be the humans and group two, the owls. The teacher gives calling directions -i.e. call softly, call loudly, call with a high voice, call with a low voice. Group one calls first and then group two answers. The owl group could use their puppets at this time. As each group calls they take a step toward the center. When the groups meet in the middle it is time to switch and let group one be the owls and group two be the humans.
4 comments:
My kinder kids in Phoenix. AZ had to use lots of imagination for this book since some of them have never been in snow. It's a good time to pretend we are putting on all of our winter clothes and then trudging in the snow, making a snowman and throwing snowballs.
I loved this book as a child. It's one of those stories that still holds a nastalgic quality for me. Read it at bedtime while watching the moon from the bedroom. You could also use the story as a springboard to discuss other nocturnal animals or the cycle of the moon. Opportunity for growth is endless when you read with your child!
I love this story! And I love your activity ideas. You are so wonderfully creative. Thanks for the memory making tips.
Thank you for your fun ideas to expand on this already great story. We have been enjoying it for some time in our home.
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