Product Description
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. For at least one hundred years, generations of barn owls have slept, hunted, called, raised their young, and glided silently above the wheat fields around an old barn. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Sweet, gentle bedtime story
My toddler son adores this book, and so do I. The text is melodic and engaging enough to be both captivating and interesting, but not dull in the way so many children's books can be. The illustrations are not as good as the text in my opinion, but still very good and intriguing for young children. This book quickly became a favorite bedtime story in our house, and is one I recommend highly to any parent whose child loves owls or animals in gerneral.

A quiet, gentle story with good info on barn owls
This is another great bedtime story.The rhythmic words and repeating phrases roll off the tongue naturally in slow, calm tones.The watercolor paintings echo the quietness of the owls' lives.The minimal text gives a general feel for barn owls' lives.Simple and lovely. ... Read more

Product Description
A detailed look at the seldom-seen life of a barn owl. Parents and kids discovering nature together will find this a thought-provoking introduction to the appreciation of a wild animal in its natural habitat.
• ASPCA bibliography: Kids, Animals, & Literature
• A NAPPA Honors Award-winner
• An NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Barn Owl
This is an excellent book to read aloud and share with your class. I teach 5th grade and I read it every year for a great description of
food chains. This year I purchased additional copies so that each student had their own copy to use and build their own food chain.

Owl's and the Web of Life
A beautifully illustrated non-fiction story of the owl's life as we learn about his ways of feeding, where he lives, finding a mate, and exists during the different seasons of the year. I used this as a part of an integrated science lesson. The idea for this lesson is from "Picture Perfect Science" which is an excellent resource using books such as this one to teach elementary science.


Barn Owl (Animal Lives)

Great first book about owls
The barn owl is certainly a unique species, and is an excellent subject for a book meant to introduce young children to the world of owls, and birds in general.The illustrations are excellent, and the text for the most part is easy to read.The occasional advanced word is encountered, but this is hardly a problem.Overall, an excellent book.

A picturebook with factual information.
Animal Lives: The Barn Owl is a picturebook with factual data, a genre I am generally pleased with.Given the picturebook format, I felt that some of the vocabulary choices would be very difficult for younger or struggling readers, i.e. superefficient sense of hearing, perilous flight.That said, the information about barn owls is well presented and researched, the illustrations are accurate and well-done, and the book includes resources and information about conservation.The author follows one barn owl pair as they raise their first brood of young-from courtship to leaving the nest.A nice insight into the lives of the owls. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Owls
I collect books about owls for my classroom.This book has fabulous photos that my students will enjoy.

Are you an owl lover? Look at the photos in this book!
For the animal/owl lover in your house, get this book.Not only will you get detailed information about the lifestyle and habitat of owls, but you'll also get awesome photographs of different breeds of owls doing different things.There's up close shots of their big eyes, action shots of "the hunt," cute ones of owlets, even a semi-gross one of an owl pellet.There's even a glossary, bibliography for further reading and an index.A great book for kids and adults alike!

A Really Cool Book!
This book contains the best photographs of owls I have ever seen.The information is really thorough and very interesting.My students who are animal lovers are going to go nuts over this book. ... Read more

Product Description
A dozen songs from the chart-topping third CD project by synthpop musician Adam Young. Features the megahit single "Fireflies" and: The Bird and the Worm * Cave In * Dental Care * Hello Seattle * Meteor Shower * On the Wing * The Saltwater Room * Tidal Wave * The Tip of the Iceberg * Umbrella Beach * Vanilla Twilight. ... Read more

Product Description
Kids love science-especially when it's hands-on-and kids love yucky stuff. The Owl Puke Book and Owl Pellet brings the best of those two worlds together in a unique package that follows directly in the tradition of The Bug Book & Bug Bottle and The Bones Book & Skeleton (which together have 3.3 million copies in print). What is an owl pellet? It's the football-shaped object regurgitated twice a day by owls, which contains the skeleton of at least one owl meal, be it a mouse, vole, shrew, or small bird. Used in elementary schools to teach the food web--but virtually unavailable at retail--a professionally collected, heat-sterilized owl pellet is now married to a lively, two-color illustrated book filled with facts and related activities about these most amazing birds. And what a story the Owl Puke Book tells--of the food chain, animal anatomy, life in the forest; of a bird that could read the bottom line of an eye chart from one mile away; and of a fierce hunter that swallows its prey headfirst and digests everything but the bones, which it spits back up in a pellet. As for the story the pellet tells, kids need only a toothpick to find out. The package includes a tray to hold the bones and a chart to help identify the pellet's contents.

It's a hoot. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Great project for Grandma Camp!
My 8 y/o granddaughter spent a few days with me this summer, and we dissected owl pellets from this kit.She was SO EXCITED about every little bone we found!I had to make her stop and go to bed at 10:30.
Totally recommend this kit for anyone with a family member who loves science and animals and nature.Great fun!

Great Science Book
I bought this book to supplement materials that I have for an owl pellet unit that I teach each year. My fifth graders found the book irresistable.It is a great tool to use in preparing students for owl pellet dissection.The layout is very kid friendly--colorful illustrations, various fonts, text sizes, "Did You Know?" facts on several pages, Quick Quizzes, ---just very appealing to kids in upper elementary/middle school age group with lots of content.

Book review
Owl Puke: Book and Owl Pellet

An excellent collection of owl information.

Great book for young boys
What young boy doesn't want to learn about gross stuff?! Got this for my 8 year old nephew and he was ecstatic. Perfect Christmas gift!

Owl Puke Rocks!
This kit is an exciting way to discuss owls with your students or children. The book does a great job talking about owls and their behaviors. I bought two kits. I put one in my library at work and used the other for camp. The owl pellet gives a good hands on experience for students and keeps them interested in learning more about owls and even birds in general. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (26)

Surreal and Sublime
Authors who are translated from their native language into English often suffer for it.Sadegh Hedayat is not a writer that many in the West are familiar with and this book is certainly not for most readers.That out of the way, this is a masterpiece of literature.

The book focuses on the descent into madness of a young man who makes his income from painting pen cases.One day he sees the very image that he has painted for his career, out of a window that appears in his closet.There is no window in the closet.The story from there is deeply disturbing and highly original, focusing on love of the most extreme and paralyzing variety.

The Blind Owl is not a book that you are meant to immediately understand, it is rich with symbolism and surrealism.For people that cannot or do not want to go along for the wild ride this is not a good book.For those who can take a breath of the wild night-ride on the back of a cart to dig up a curiously familiar vase and contemplate whether or not they have been drinking poisoned wine - don't think - order now.

Good service
I bought a book from this provide. I didnt pay for fast shipping and received my book fairly later than what I thought. But the book was in good condition. It was very satisfactory overall.
I would buy from this seller again.

An Iranian masterpiece?
This novella is about a young man quite fond of wine and opium, who sees a beautiful but mysterious woman through a ventilation hole in his closet. He goes back to the closet three days later to look for her, but there is no such aperture there. He is in despair over "losing" her, but several weeks later she shows up outside of his front door. He invites her in, and she lies on his bed. He touches her, and realizes she is dead. From there on, the story is more morbid and surreal, and he eventually descends into madness.

If you like Edgar Allan Poe, you'll probably like this novella. If not, I wouldn't recommend it.

hated this one, or maybe it's just way over my head
This is a short novel from Iran written in a surrealist style.

While it has a solid reputation in Iran, I think this is one of those works that you'd have to read in the original to appreciate.In translation it seems clumsy, cloying, and overwritten.

Hard to describe what the plot is.Mainly some guy lying on his bed thinking how beautiful some woman is, then, no, wait!Her face is really a skull!Is that a skull?Did I imagine the skull?Etc.

It gets tiring pretty fast.I've read elsewhere that this book, written during the oppressive years of Reza Shah's rule (1925-1941), is supposed to be Iran's conscience arguing with itself over whether to become more modern.

Fine.By this reading, the mysterious "she" that appears everywhere in the book is really Western modernity, and the narrator is in fact Iran, in agony over how to respond to it.Here's a sample:

". . . as a pimp I was not a success, and the fools all laughed in my face.After all, how ever could I have learnt manners and deportment from the rabble?I know now that she loved them precisely because they were shameless, stupid, and rotten.Her love was inseparable from filth and death.Did I really want to sleep with her?Was it her looks that had made me fall in love with her, or was it her aversion to me or her general behavior or the deep affection I had felt for her mother since my early childhood, or was it all of these things combined?I simply do not know.One thing I do know:my wife . . . the sorceress, had poured into my soul some poison which not only made me want her but made every single atom in my body desire the atoms of hers and shriek aloud its desire."

Sheesh.

Got patience for 128 pages of this?

Edgar Allen Poe of Iran
Review by Brian H. Appleton, www.zirzameen.com of:

The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat

The story is like an opium dream in which the reader drifts along with the writer in and out of awake and dreaming with recurring themes and symbols like an intoxicated mind trying to keep hold of its tenuous grasp on reality. There is the blue morning glory flower, the flower-vase of Rhages, kisses with the bitter taste of the green stub end of the cucumber, the smell of champac perfume, the wine bottle with the cobra venom that he can't get rid of like a boomerang, the singing drunken policemen passing by the street below, the bone handled butcher knife that he can't get rid of like a boomerang, the butcher cutting up sheep carcasses, the coughing horses with dead sheep slung over their backs, these images keep recurring in different circumstances like a floating mirage. His imagery is at times stunningly beautiful like his simple description of a row of dark shadowy trees along a road in the night which look like they are all holding hands so as not to fall down on a slippery slope. The rows of strange and menacing looking houses of geometric shapes like cones and prisms that recur as in a dream sequence; if it were made into a film it would be reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman's "Seventh Seal."

The hearse driver and the odds and ends man with his head scarf and hideous laughter "of a quality that make the hairs on one's body stand on end," and the narrator himself seem to at times be different people and at other times they are one and the same. In the end we don't know if the wife has committed adultery or not with one or with many or only with the old odds and ends man or if in fact that was really the narrator and that this is all his imagined paranoia. We sense that his frustration, love and hate for his wife is powerfully real and all consuming regardless of the state of her fidelity and in fact he claims that her neglect is what is causing his slow death.

The painting on the top of the pen case is of the dark mysterious woman with staring eyes on the other side of a stream holding a blue morning glory flower while the old man with the scarf wrapped around his head and neck squats on the other side laughing hideously. Where the story started to remind me of Edgar Allen Poe is the first time the theme of the drunken policemen singing as they pass by his window in the street makes him think they are coming to get him so we are given a hint that he has either already committed murder or will, even though the strange silent woman on the pen case has mysteriously appeared sitting on his doorsteps and when he lets her into his house, she goes straight to his bed and lays down and dies. We begin to understand that she and his wife are one and the same person but events which chronologically should precede others seem out of order like the way hallucinations induced by drugs seem to interrupt the brain waveslike jumbling the letters of the alphabet out of order even if they are still all there. We have no idea in the end if the story took place over a matter of days or months or all in one night like the hauntings by the various ghosts of Christmas of Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."

The descriptions of his own thoughts and feelings and his changing body appearance and shadow and facial expressions, his fevers and depressions and the pleasure and power he takes from fear, pain and self torment, is like an ever changing kaleidoscope of one completely living within one's own mind and only marginally in touch with the outside world like the autistic. It is like a river passing along in which the same objects bob underwater only to resurface again and again further up or down the stream like his and his wife's lost childhood playing hide-and-seek along the Suran.

His descriptions of dried coagulated blood and decay and murder, dispassionately like a mortician performing autopsy without emotion or like it is not really happening but only imagined so that the reader is never actually sure, keeps us riveted from the beginning of the tale to the end.

Again it is reminiscent of Poe's poem "The Beautiful Annabel Lee" and his seemingly unorthodox marriage to his 13 year old cousin and her early demise in real life. The suspense rises and falls palpably like a recurring tide and makes one feel with the author, like a rat stuck on the tread mill of life, coming round full circle again and again but never really going anywhere with only the illusion of linear progress. The story ends as abruptly as it begins, yet resolves with everything falling neatly into place like the toys that come to life when no one is looking, which then freeze the moment a person enters the room. The ease with which the author has populated this dreamscape of existential nausea makes me think it was a struggle with which he was intimately familiar himself and his suicide becomes all the more poignant.
... Read more

Product Description

In this beautifully illustrated edition of the beloved nonsense poem by Edward Lear, Anne Mortimer takes the reader on the delightful voyage of the Owl and the Pussycat as they sail across the sea and travel into lush jungles, all by the light of the moon. Filled with rich detail and breathtaking artwork, this is a glowing tribute to the power of true love.

Customer Reviews (9)

Love at First Sight
Gorgeously illustrated by Anne Mortimer, this version brings to life the sweetest, loveliest Owl and Pussycat imaginable. The details of fur and feathers make these elegantly rendered animals look so soft you can almost touch them. I hesitated to buy the book after reading a review complaining the poem was incomplete. I don't know what they mean--it had the whole poem I'm familiar with, ending,
"And hand and hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon, The moon, They danced by the light of the moon."
I bought this for my 4-year old niece but because it is SO beautiful I am buying another copy to keep for myself. Maybe two. Its magical.

A must have for your child
This is a classic children's book.Read this book to my daughter (now 25) over and over again.Just purchased it again for my new grandaughter.This edition is beautifully illustrated.Sure to please every child, quite a classic in my opinion.

Wonderful illustrations for wonderful classic!
I love this book. The art and illustrations are beautiful and add another element to a classic story. The biography at the end is also interesting and educates the reader about the author.

Love this book!!
I love this book!The illustrations are beautiful, and my two grandchildren ages 4 & 2 love having me read it to them.It's a classic that we'll be able to enjoy no matter what age they are. I had enjoyed it when I was young & looked on line for the best illustrated version, & this is definitely it!!

Only the first verse
This is a visually appealing edition of the first verse only of Lear's classic nonsense poem.If the reader is expecting the entire poem, this book will be a disappointment. ... Read more

Product Description
One day, a little white owl sets off to see the world. When he meets some beautiful colourful owls he can't wait to share his toast and all his happy stories. But these pretty owls do not want to be friends with a plain, little owl like him... ... Read more

Product Description
Michael and Kathleen Gear, bestselling authors and award winning archaeologists are famous for writing novels about prehistoric America that are fast-paced, steeped in cultural detail, and smart. Here, in their most ambitious work to date, they combine their distinctive trademark of high action with a rich psychological drama.

Four thousand years ago, in what centuries later will be the southern part of the United States, a boy is thrust into manhood long before he's ready. Young Salamander would much rather catch crickets and watch blue herons fish than dabble in the politics of his clan. But when his heroic brother is killed, Salamander becomes the leader of America's first city. He inherits his brother's two wives, who despise him, and is forced to marry his mortal enemy's daughter to forge an alliance for the trade goods his people desperately need.

But he's only fifteen winters old! Technically he's not even a man, and most people consider him to be the village idiot! Worse, each of his wives has secretly been ordered by her clan to kill him.

Cast adrift in a stark wilderness of political intrigue where assassins are everywhere, young Salamander has no choice but to become a man-and quickly. For his own greatest enemies are closing in, intent upon destroying him and his clan and taking over Sun Town for themselves.
It would all be a simple matter if he could just run away, but he can't. He has three problems: Their names are Night Rain, Pinedrop and Anhinga. His wives. Despite what their clans have ordered them to do he loves them. And he loves the children they have given him. As the end draws close, he realized he has only one duty he cannot shirk-to protect his family. Salamander will do it. No matter the cost in blood.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Not what I thought
I thought this book would teach me a lot more about the way ancient tribes hunted, built houses, cooked, and soforth.I was hoping to learn about how life might've been for Native Americans long ago.In reality, it's all about the tribal politics of the "Sun People".If this is really an anthropologically and historically accurate story (as the back cover implies), I don't know how in the world scholars figured out all the procedures and rituals that are described.

To critique the writing, I a lot of the exposition is weak (i.e. the authors seem to write the dialogue of the characters so that they flat out say things about situations rather than revealing them with subtlety).The characters are badly underdeveloped for a book that's almost 600 pages.Other than wanting Salamander to succeed, I didn't feel any real attachment to him.I wish that the writers developed the villains more so that I was genuinely repulsed by them (like William Hamleigh in "Pillars of the Earth"), but they seemed like little annoyances that Salamander was able to deal with easily because of his special connection with their spirit world.On Salamander, I couldn't tell if he was able to thwart his enemies through spiritual advantage or because of genuine benevolence.

Additionally, I thought the ending was lame.The authors make it seem like the timing and orchestration of Salamander's final big decision are extremely important.However, Salamander's big decision could've taken place at any point in the story, which severely detracts from its impact.I was also waiting for the ending to tie into the Prologue, but it never does.

Since unmet expectations are no basis for rating a story, I tried to consider the story at face value.I gave it two stars because I think I learned a small amount, but it was not written well and it is terribly anticlimactic.I will avoid all of the other books written by these authors.

Very fast shipping
The product was in the condition described and the shipping was really fast. I was extremely pleased with the service I received.

Captivating
I don't know how accurately this book captured what life might have been like at this site.However, I was amazed and excited about their recreation of what life might have been like in that area of the country at that time.The descriptions of the natural environment were what I found most exciting in the book. I also found the plot and politics interesting.I thought Mud Puppy's actions and thoughts throughout the book were slow moving, and yet I felt that what transpired in the book ought to have taken a longer period of time.The ending was a disappointment; it seemed too abrupt and incomplete.

Some books better than others...
...but really the whole series is fantastic.Again historical evidence and study went into forming the characters, with great success. The authors do a fabulous job painting a picture of what life was like and what was going on during the setting of the book.Can't wait until the next one.

People of the Owl (The First North Americans Series)
I've loved everything I've read by the Gears and I've read just about everything they have published. Wonderful interposing of fiction onto the facts! They use their expertise as anthropologists and as story tellers to combine what really has been found about North American Indians and interpose a very believable story onto it. They really make the past come alive! The inclusion of what has really been found by anthropologists adds tremendously to the books! ... Read more

Product Description
It is a rare and enlightening experience to sight an owl. Nocturnal birds of prey, owls are blessed with the best hearing of all birds. This gift enables them to dwell in dense forested areas, as does their exceptional vision. ... Read more

Product Description
New York Times bestselling author Robert B. ParkerÂ’s first novel for young readers

There is something evil in the air ; Bobby senses it. Who is that man he saw arguing with his pretty new English teacher? Bobby knows he should mind his own business, but times are confusing. World War II just ended, and the world is changing— Bobby’s world, especially. There’s Joanie, for one—why does being her friend feel awkward? And then there are his buddies, the junior varsity Edenville Owls—basketball players in need of a leader. Can they help each other off the court as well as they can on it? They will need to. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Edenville Owls
This was a great read, as always.
Good for young readers or those who just
love Robert B. Parker

another excellent book
although this is a "young adult" book I ordered it because I am such a Robert Parker fan. It's a great read and the setting is a time in which I can relate as a "mature adult".

A realistic bunch of kids
My folks would have been older than Bobby, but I could hear echoes of their young lives in this.I was a last child in a big family, so my own fourteen came in the latter half of the 70's.In a way, the thought that all the early news Bobby heard was war news did resonate, because the Vietnam War loomed over my childhood years.Not as much as World War II would have, though.I'm sure of that.

There was something about the times that made people stronger, and yet . . . I'm sure some came back warped, too.The villain of the piece was a good example.Bobby's voice, in a way, is a little too clean.He's a little too sure.A young hero might have greater clarity than most fourteen year olds, though.It makes for a better story.

For the most part, these are realistic kids, though.The confusion and the different pressures and pulls are there. Fourteen is a special time.In a couple of years, they would think a lot more like adults.A couple of years earlier, and they'd have been too much children to handle what they had to do.They're kids of the era, too.I imagine they were more independent, because they had to be.I like that.The sports aspect gave it a nice focus, too.I could enjoy their achievements, and the way they overcame obstacles, even though I don't like basketball.Oops, sorry Bobby and the rest of the Owls.;-)

All around, it was a good story.I'd have liked a longer one, and I do hope there are sequels.If not, it's still a good stand alone.I know it's meant for young readers, but I'd recommend it for all ages.I really enjoyed it.

Edenville Owls
"Edenville Owls" is a book for young people written by Robert B. Parker who is best known as the author of the Spenser novels as well as the Jesse Stone novels. The book is set in 1946. Fourteen year old Bobby Murphy and four of his friends form a basketball team, the Owls, who play against JV teams from schools in their state. Bobby's best friend is a girl named Joanie Gibson. There is a mystery element too that revolves around Bobby's teacher, Miss Delaney, and a suspicious man. The Owls win at basketball and solve a mystery. I wonder if this book is somewhat autobiographical. The boy (Bobby/Robert), the girl (Joanie/Parker's wife is Joan), and the time frame (Parker would have been 14 in 1946) all lead me to wonder about this. "Edenville Owls" is an enjoyable book for the young and the young at heart.

Thank you Parker for Branching out to Teen Readers (and still great reading for older people!
Because Robert Parker is one of the most "thinking" authors I am aware of, I was thrilled to see that he has specifically addressed a book to younger readers.

Part of my daily work responsibilities is to match books to teens, not always easy - especially for the huge % that are not Potter Enthusiasts.Edenville Owls further has the twist of exposing young readers to a time period that is probably not familiar to them - or even their parents!

Quick, absorbing read. ... Read more

Product Description

Mysterious, silent and ferocious birds of prey.

Owls are almost everywhere. These distinctive birds populate every continent except Antarctica and survive in everything from arid desert, to arctic tundra, to dense rain forest.

From ancient mythology to Harry Potter, owls hold an enduring place in the human imagination. In some cultures they are revered; in others, feared. And for every superstition that associates owls with good fortune, a dozen more link them to death, sickness or evil.

Frances Backhouse provides an in-depth yet lively study of these fascinating birds. Topics include anatomy and adaptations, mating behaviors, egg laying and chick rearing, feeding habits, communication displays and location.

Superbly designed birds of prey, owls are equipped with highly effective tools for killing and dismembering their prey: strong feet with curved, stiletto-like talons and a sturdy hooked bill with razor-sharp cutting edges. What makes owls unique is that most of them hunt in darkness from dusk to dawn using their keen hearing, enhanced low-light vision and sound-muffling structures on their flight feathers.

With detailed profiles of and range maps for all 23 species, along with 70 color photographs illustrating key behavioral characteristics, Owls of North America is a solid reference for birders, naturalists and general readers.

Customer Reviews (4)

Owls
I collect owls and this book is terrific for learning about the various types. I love it.

Amazing photos!
I agree with the other reviewers (so far) that this a beautiful book with informative text and amazing photographs of owls.My only disappointment with the book is that the textual information is often presented as more of a "list of facts" rather than a real synthesis of the available information on owl biology.Thus, the introductory chapters on different aspects of the life cycle of owls often reads as something like ... owl X lays on average a clutch of 5 eggs, while owls Y and Z usually lay 7-8 eggs....It's hard to get the "big picture" from some of these chapters, and there is redundancy with some of the later species accounts in the book.Overall, though, I would still recommend this book for it's other features.

Great book for everyone
This book is split into two main sections: general information on owls and species profiles.The first section deals with the general information and it is written in a way that is easy to understand and very informative.After the author discusses something generally about owls, it is often followed up with specific examples of which owls that information applies to.There is some information that can be applied more generally to birds of prey, but, of course, everything mentioned is related to owls.

I tend to read a lot about owls and diurnal birds of prey, and when I spotted this book in the store, I kept thinking, do I really need yet another book on owls?Despite that, I could not pass the book up, and I'm glad I did not.And speaking from the point of view of someone who has read extensively on owls/birds of prey, I think this book would be great for anyone, from the person who is new to the subject of owls or for someone who is more of an expert.

AN INFORMATIVE DELIGHT.
This is one of those books that could well be classified as a "coffee table book," but unlike so many works that fall into that category; this one actually imparts some valuable information.It is a pure joy to read and look at.In this book you will find some of the best photographs, over 70 of them, of owls that you will find anywhere.The quality, detail and settings of each photo are rather amazing.The photographic technology is rather amazing.Having photographed birds for years, I can attest to the fact that it is not easy and to get this many shots of this quality is rather remarkable.

But don't take me wrong, this is far more that just a book of pretty pictures of owls.The author has done extensive research and does know her owl stuff.The book includes a brief history of owls in North America, and owls in general and a discussion of the various families.The author discusses the habits and habitat of each separate species along with anatomy and psychology, feeding habits, nesting, breeding habits, visual displays, life cycles, migration and communication.There are also excellent distribution maps shown with each species.(A warning here:Distribution maps are fine and dandy, but must all be use with caution.Birds in general do not read maps and you find different species in places that they have no business being in.Due to various factors, including climate warming, the distribution for birds is rapidly changing at this time and the "owl watcher" needs to be aware of this).

The author gives a good species profile of each of the 23 species found in North America, and as mentioned above, gives us some wonderful photographs of each of these wonderful birds.This book is not intended to be a field guide by any means, but tromping though the woods, desert and plains is just part of the fun.Reading about and learning is another part.

This is an excellent book to have lying around.Even those not particularly interest in birding with find joy in flipping though this one.I have also found that children are fascinated with these creatures.The text is not overly technical and is easy reading.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks ... Read more

Product Description
Every wild place and urban area in North America hosts an owl or a woodpecker species, while healthy natural places often boast representatives of both. The diversity of these two families of birds, and the ways in which they define and enrich the ecosystems they inhabit, are the subject of this vivid new book by photographer and naturalist Paul Bannick.

The Owl and the Woodpecker showcases a sense of these birds' natural rhythms, as well as the integral spirit of our wild places. Based on hundreds of hours in the field photographing these fascinating and wily birds, Bannick evokes all 41 North American species of owls and woodpeckers, across 11 key habitats. And by revealing the impact of two of our most iconic birds, Bannick has created a wholly unique approach to birding and conservation.* Perfect holiday book for all bird-watchers* An in-depth look at two of our most iconic--and important--bird species* Great for photography lovers, conservationists, and backyard enthusiasts alike* Includes a foreword by award-winning artist and writer Tony Angell ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Awesome book
Fantastic photos, meticulous research, all the information I wanted and more about some of my favorite birds. No wonder National Public Radio did a review of it. Thank you, Author and Photographer Paul Bannick! A simply beautiful book!

Outstanding!
The photos in this book are just outstanding. I'm a photographer myself, so I can really appreciate the amount of preparation, stalking and careful camera work that went into this volume. I've probably only seen about a third of the birds that Paul has photos of in his book, and have produced only small smudgy photos of a few of those. Trust me, it's not easy getting a sharp head-on photo of a rare bird in flight!

I found this book at the library, but will probably have to get my own copy to keep on my shelf to remind myself of what's possible.

Great pictures -- great writing
Excellent book for the birder in your life.A good read whether you are an experienced bird watcher or a new beginner.The pictures show such incredible detail with many showing things you would never see with your naked eye.

Stunning photographs.
The photographs in this book are simply stunning. If you have any interest at all in Owls or Woodpeckers, this book is as informative as it is beautiful - it also includes a CD with their calls.This book hits the mark on all counts.

Kay on Owl's & Woodpeckers
The Owl and the Woodpecker is much more than a coffee table book.This author takes a reader into the reality of birds and all the wildlife that we have available to lift our spirits and give us that natural high. The book is a feast for the eyes that grabs your attention and then holds you enthralled with the text. It brings home the need to be aware of how we live in relation to nature and how we can be a positive force in preserving what we have.The author offers so much knowledge in a manner that keeps the reader involved.A great deal of information in a form that is palatable and a very good read.This book will surprise the reader, whether a bird enthusiast, a lover of beautiful things or simply someone who turns the first page and finds himself charmed into the author's world. ... Read more

Product Description
Within these pages Mary Oliver collects twenty-six of her poems about the birds that have been such an important part of her life-hawks, hummingbirds, and herons; kingfishers, catbirds, and crows; swans, swallows and, of course, the snowy owl, among a dozen others-including ten poems that have never before been collected. She adds two beautifully crafted essays, "Owls," selected for the Best American Essays series, and "Bird," a new essay that will surely take its place among the classics of the genre.In the words of the poet Stanley Kunitz, "Mary Oliver's poetry is fine and deep; it reads like a blessing. Her special gift is to connect us with our sources in the natural world, its beauties and terrors and mysteries and consolations."For anyone who values poetry and essays, for anyone who cares about birds, Owls and Other Fantasies will be a treasured gift; for those who love both, it will be essential reading. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Owls an Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays
This book was recommended by a priest. It has very subtle Biblical references, but you won't notice that if you are not looking. The poems and essays are wonderful and I highly recommend the book.

Teacher Jan
Before discovering Mary Oliver, I was not much of a poetry fan.However, her poems and essays, to me, are food for my soul.I am a birder, and this particular collection is one of my favorites. She writes simply and her observations speak to the beauty, the danger and the mystery of nature.

Bird and Crow
After reading an essay (Bird) and a poem (Crow?) in this book, I'm anxious to find and read more of Mary Oliver's work. I tend to favor essays and "Bird" was a special one. If you appreciate good writing read Mary Oliver.

Lovely, reverent
Mary Oliver's paeans to nature are contemporary psalms. I'd already read the book and bought it as a gift. I may need a copy for myself as well.

Great read
This is a great read.I had just heard of Mary's work and ordered quite few of her books.They are all wonderful.She has such a wonderful way to look at nature and the world in general. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (33)

based on welsh myth
'The Owl Service' is a young adult novel based on Welsh myths, where another generation seems destined to live out a tale of love, murder and revenge. More of a suspense/horror than fantasy; three teens struggle with class and ethnic tensions as well as the normal adolescent angst when the ancient power of the valley begins to take over their lives.
Although very well written the story is hard to get into, as there is no initial build up, the reader is just dropped into the middle of the plot and expected to fend for himself. This also has the effect of not letting us see the characters in their normal lives before the stress of the situation turns them unsympathetic. The text is almost entirely dialogue, with very little description which hinders the creation of atmosphere. Still it is an impressive book packing a lot ofpunch in a fairly short story.

Great
This was a bizarre little book. It is a retelling of an old Welsh legend - a legend of a curse that is relived in each generation, again and again, in the same Welsh Valley. The main characters are Allison and Roger who are Step Siblings and Gwen is the son of the flitch - the wise man of the valley.

The book captivated and I could not put it down. Various kinds of discrimination and prejudice pervade the plot and the book is full of dark twisty turns in the plot and sub-plots, one of which is the condensation of the English to the Welsh and its corollary in the Welsh resentment of English wealth. The class divide is on many different levels: between a working class boy and richer children, between a land-owning family and a businessman's family and finally there is the divide between urban Welsh and the Welsh-speaking country people. It was a fantastic book and as I stated earlier I could not put it down.

(First written as Journal Reading Notes in 1999.)

Let this story blow you away.


Mabinogion myth meets the 'modern' day in this tale of recurring rivalry in a Welsh valley. Three young adults start out as friends until a curse of love and revenge from unknown eons ago descend upon them. Time and time again, century after century, one man kills the other for the affection of the woman. Will it be the same pattern for Alison, Roger and Gwyn?

I must admit to reading the Owl Service twice, as I could not fathom it the first time. Welsh legend combined with language from four decades ago left me frequently perplexed. Take the title, for one. I thought it was about owls delivering messages. My fellow philistines, it pertains to a complete dining set decorated with stylized floral owls. (With this tip, this review is already helpful!)

The atmosphere of the book is heavy, brooding, eerie and leads you to expect, like the Welsh villagers, that something is coming down from the mountains. Alan Garner weaves magic that you suddenly realize you are at the center of a storm. Let this story blow you away.

This product highly condensed, add full can of alertness and perception
Reading Alan Garner is not a spectator sport. You have to participate quite energetically: be alert to pick up on all the clues. He doesn't do explaining. That's why some readers have been left feeling bewildered.

With that in mind, let me set the scene for The Owl Service, especially for American readers who don't have some of the background needed to pick up on the small hints he drops in the turn of a phrase. All this is established in the early chapters, but not spelt out.

The central figure is the young teenager Alison. Her father died and her mother remarried. Clive Bradley is a well-meaning but emotionally clueless man, though of course he is aware of the typical issues of stepfatherhood. He has his own son, Roger, about Alison's age. So they are an upper-middle class English family on holiday (vacation) ina house that Alison's mother (or strictly speaking, Alison) owns in a deep isolated valley in Wales and where they have a local Welsh woman, Nancy, who works for them as cook and housekeeper. Nancy has a son, Gwyn, about the same age as the others...and attracted to Alison. Then there is Huw Halfbacon who is - or appears to be - a slow-witted garden servant (why do all the villagers address him with a title of great respect?)

Now already you have three tensions established: first, the UK class thing of the householder and the servant, with differing levels of money, speech, and education. Nancy is conflicted about her "Welshness" and wants Gwyn to get out of it: she actually prefers to be in the English world, where she says "I know my place" lowly though that place is. Although she has sent Gwyn to the best local school, she doesn't like that they teach him Welsh language and history.

This leads to the next tension: the Welsh/English thing, with all its past memories of the Celtic resentment of the down-to-earth, practical, invading "English" who pushed the dreamy, poetic, magic-believing Celtic nations, with their Gaelic languages, to the western fringe of Britain, and from the 5th century onwards often treated them as tiresome eccentrics.

And finally, do I need to stress the tension of having two teenage boys and one girl. This is what brings to life the ancient curse of repetition that hangs over this remote Welsh valley, known and understood by the locals talking Welsh amongst each other in the shops: the ineluctable repetition of an ancient drama of magic, jealousy and murder.

OK. Now let's develop the characters a bit. Clive, the stepfather, is a "rough diamond." He's made a lot of money and has no patience with nuance. Wants money to resolve everything. His first wife left him - they don't talk about that, especially the son Roger. Alison's mother was criticized for remarrying so soon and possibly for money.

Nancy the cook grew up in the valley but left it following a tragedy and spent most of her life in the nearby town,Aberystwyth. Now she has returned, full of a sort of inverse snobbery and tremendous conflicts about the Welsh v. English thing.I won't go into detail on the revelations about her previous links with the house and indeed with Alison's mother Margaret, a shadowy background figure we never really see. [SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT - It turns out that Nancy's story was yet another previous re-enactment of the ancient cycle of doom...]

She is wedded to the old concepts of immutable class: the noble born and the humble are fine in their respective stations, but she despises the nouveau-riche like Clive Bradley.

Gwyn is a tremendously sympathetic character:mocked for his "country bumpkin" nature by the bigoted English, yet in fact full of ideals and dreams beyond them and in fact well-educated from the grammar school.Has a really, really bad relationship with his mother. Incidentally, again for American readers, Brits understand immediately why Nancy is "me Mam" and Alison's mother is "Mummy" and what that means in class terms.

Every time the centuries-old trapped elemental force of the unhappy Blodeuwedd, the woman made by the wizard out of flowers, finds a modern emotional situation that resembles the one of her ancient tragedy, it manifests itself through the girl of today. It can come either as a terrifying predatory presence that has the nature of a huge fierce owl, or many owls, and will go "hunting," or as a blessing of sweetness and light, with wildflower fragrances, representing the original nature of Blodeuwedd. You will have to see what happens in this wondrous book.

A few quick translations of things I suspect aren't American usage:
If someone is conning you with a tall tale, he's said to be "pulling your leg." If you suspect this, you can tell him "Pull the other one, it's got bells on" - (so more rewarding than this one.)
Packet of fags - cigarettes.
Petrol - gas
Torch - flashlight
Anorak - windbreaker
Ping-pong - table tennis
Snooker - table ball game like pool
The ab-dabs - feeling spooked
Pebble-dash - a rough stucco-type wall finish with tiny stones embedded in it
Flitch - a half-side of bacon. See the part where Huw Halfbacon explains his name.
Torch - flashlight
First floor - US second floor

Brilliant...but not for everyone
I agree with previous reviewers that this book will likely be lost on young children, and likewise on adults and young adults who like their books obvious and don't want to invest the time in re-reading. Alan Garner is the writer's writer. His work invites and rewards study.

For me, this is one of the best books I've ever read, and it's had a profound influence on me as an author. Garner takes ideas and compresses them so tightly, the book reads like poetry. There isn't a single wasted word here; there's no "filler", no unnecessary stage directions. The dialogue is outstanding. Unfortunately, this results in a reading experience that's confusing the first time around. The second time through, things become clearer. What's amazing about this book is that I've read it about a dozen times, and every time I read it, I discover something new, hidden in the text.

There are moments in the book that have haunted me for years: the moment when Gwyn goes up into the attic and picks up the plate, and everything changes. The scene where Roger and his father look through the photos Roger took on the riverbank is one of the eeriest things I've read.

What I found really interesting is that recently I picked up a copy of Ysabel by Guy Kay (a best-selling author in his own right), which also features a love triangle lived out in the modern day, and what struck me was that Garner's economy with words and his technical ability to convey feelings and atmosphere is vastly superior to Kay's. Kay hits you over the head with *how important everything is*. Garner lets the events speak for themselves.

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars was because of the ending. I agree with other reviewers that this was the weakest part of the book for me. I always feel with Garner's books that they must be missing a page or two from the very end, and I wish he'd left them in. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Owls
I collect owl books for my classroom.This was a nice addition to my collection.The photos are wonderful.The book gives an overview about owls then gives information specific tovarious types of owls.The information is written at a level that very young children would need assistance with, but older children would be fine with.I like to have the variety of levels of materials in my classroom to meet the needs of the children.

A Hoot To Read!
This is a fine starter series for kids interested studying different animals. Owls:The Silent Hunters is our most recent read with the wonderful and interesting Animals in Order series.I have to say, my kids (and I) just can't get enough of these...they are such fun reading! What I like a great deal about this series (and it's held for more than 10 books now) is that it takes time at the beginning of the book to look at (briefly) what makes an animal (in this case an owl) part of a particular species belong to a specific order, getting into what traits exactly (in this case) make an a bird an owl. The book then goes into the "order" of living things which details the kingdom, phylum and class , order, family and species (with a handy visual chart for reference, great for younger kids, so they can SEE how it works rather than just read it or have it read to them). This is one of the better features of this series and this exact text appears in each book. Next the author goes specifically into where owls fit into animal kingdom, breaking it down (in words and pictures again) to kingdom (animal), phylum (chordate), class (bird) and order (owl). In this section we learn that there are approximately 30 different orders of birds - and that owls make up ONE of orders (and that there are an amazing 170 species of owls)!

The book also talks a bit about where owls fit into food chain and where they can be found in habitats including the Americas; Europe & Asia; Africa; Australia; and also details some species that can be found in many places throughout the world. Owls:The Silent Hunters goes from there into an overview of fourteen species complete with full page, color photographs for each one, which really serve to bring the information to life. This section includes Family, Common Example, Genus and Species and Size for each owl discussed and each animal is given one full page for written description and one full page COLOR photo...excellent for fully engaging the reader! Some of the owl species included are the Great Horned Owl, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Snowy Owl, Burrowing Owl, Barn Owl, Boobook, and the Eastern Screech Owl.

Overall, a fantastic way to introduce various types of owls to your curious young reader! What you get in Owls:The Silent Hunters is an excellent overview of owls. There is a short section at the end on one might go about spotting owls and what equipment might be needed. As always with this series, I was pleased to find that at the end of the book the author/publisher also included a short recommended reading list and some really great web pages to do more research on...the kids in particular LOVED this! The books in this series would make a wonderful addition to a classroom library or as gifts for your favorite young reader who has a passion for animals; the information here is scientifically presented, accented with wonderful color photos and is both interesting and informative!
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (29)

Great fun!
A great continuation of the series by Donna Andrews.I love the mysteries, and Meg is simply one of the best characters out there.Her family is hilarious.Love this series!

Owls Well
Donna Andrews' Owls Well That Ends Well is a pratfall of a novel. That's not to say that it isn't entertaining - on the contrary, it's very amusing - but the antics of Meg Langslow's suspect pool reached new heights. As part of the buyer's agreement for their new house, Michael and Meg organize a large yard sale to unburden themselves of the previous owner's goods, while generating a small profit for the deceased's family. On the day the 30-family yard sale opens up a local scalawag/antiques dealer is murdered in Meg's barn, and everything goes downhill from there. As a police investigation goes underway on one side, a carnival springs up on Meg and Michael's front lawn, with suspects darting to and fro. In the end it all adds to the charm and chuckles, and the Meg Langslow books continue to be an endearing series.

Fun mystery to read
This is the first Donna Andrews mystery I have read. I found it entertaining and easy to read. I enjoyed the absence coarse profanity. Other reviews indicated this was one of her weaker installments so since I enjoyed this bookI am anxious to read her other 'better' books.

Entertaining!
I was in the mood for a mystery this week, and so picked this up at the library to hopefully satisfy that craving. I'd never heard of the author or this series, but was willing to take a chance. After, that's how I've met some of my favorite authors and books!

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It's not a hard-core drama mystery - with bodies dropping everywhere and clues scarce and far between. Instead, I think this book takes a more realistic view of murder and how an investigation takes place. With a few distractions thrown in.

Although some would say that this book is about those distractions, with a murder thrown in. I couldn't argue with them, either. The main character, Meg, is hosting the yard sale of the century - involving 30 families and over 2 acres of stuff! And when the discovery of a body at her yard sale closes the sale, the resulting chaos from onlookers with morbid curiosity and random people opening up their own yard sales outside the official (closed) yard sale, her property soon turns into the equivalent of a county fair! And when one of her fiance's colleagues gets arrested for the murder, Meg feels obliged to prove his innocence - not just because the sooner the case is solved the sooner she can get all these people OFF her lawn!

The writing is clever, with many incidents throughout the yard sale making me laugh out loud at the sheer ridiculousness of humanity: the husband who believed his marriage was over because his wife was selling the fancy lingerie he'd bought her ... every holiday, special occasion, promotion, setback, weekend etc. over the past thirty years; the owner of the crane who decided to play a practical joke on a relative, and so lifted the portable toilet 40 feet into the air ... the wrong portable toilet; the vendors who decide to take apart the neighbor's fence so they can use the neighbor's field to set up their booths ... letting the neighbor's sheep escape into the chaos.

Meanwhile, Meg is trying to solve a murder. She approaches it logically, questioning the people involved until she reaches a decision. I must say, that although I've read many mystery novels, I was completely surprised by who actually had done it. Even with that surprise, though, there was a satisfaction, because it was completely unexpected. If that makes sense. Which it will if you read the book.

So, yes, read this book. If you love mysteries, have ever had a yard sale, or even attended a yard sale, or ever feel like you are the only sane person you know!

--Published by Thomas Dunne Books in 2005
293 Pages

Garage Sale Season Is Here
Meg and Michael have been busy clearing out the decades of accumulated clutter left in the dilapidated Victorian house they had purchased a few months earlier.After months of work and exasperating negotiations with the previous owner's heirs over the disposition of the 'family treasures' Meg had unearthed they were finally ready for the last phase of the decluttering, the garage sale.In true Langslow family fashion though this could not be a regular sale, this one grew to true epic proportions involving hordes of Meg's eccentric relatives, crowd control measures and of course, a murder.When the body is discovered in the midst of the sale's opening rush Meg's biggest concern is how this discovery will impact sales.Soon though it became apparent the investigation could put an end of boyfriend Michael's long sought tenure at the local college.In the end though Meg manages to once again solve everything in her own hilarious style.

This is the sixth in the series of comic cozies featuring blacksmith artist Meg, her drama instructor/actor boyfriend Michael and their charming and zany group of extended family and friends.The comic situations and outrageous antics of this group lead to many moments where the reader will truly laugh out loud.

The overall story arc of this series is rather pronounced so for maximum enjoyment they should be read in as close to order as possible. ... Read more

Product Description
All aboard the Owl Express! Nate, the great detective, and his dog Sludge, hit the rails on their latest case. Their mission: To guard an owl named Hoot. Hoot belongs to Nate’s cousin, Olivia Sharp, and she thinks someone on the train might be out to get her feathered friend. But whooo? Sludge keeps an eye on the owl’s cage while Nate snoops for clues. Then Hoot disappears! With many suspects to question, and many places to look, Nate knows one thing for sure—being the bodyguard to a little bird is a lot more work than he ever imagined! As the train races toward its final stop, can Nate sort out the mystery of the vanishing owl? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

My son love this collection
This is a great book. My son is 6 and loves reading this book and feeling like a detective and he even dresses up and goes on hunts for clues like he is Nate the Great. It is also full of basic sight words, to get kids into reading chapter books. The words are easy, but the pages are longer so kids feel that they are reading harder material.

Great little book!
My son loves this series.Fun to read and highly recommend for your little reader.

Nate Really IS Great!
I first picked up a Nate the Great book for my five year-old a few months ago after having been warned off getting him the Junie B. Jones series as there is a lot of negative language in those books (calling people "stupid" and things like that).

My son was just getting into reading chapter books and these were a great introduction. He had previously read the "Biscuit" books about the girl and her dog, biscuit. The language in the Nate the Great books is not difficult to read, but there are enough words per page that your child will feel as though they are reading a "big kid" book. The stories are interesting as well - we have fun reading them together and trying to figure out the clues and solve the mysteries right along with Nate. My son laughs out loud at some of the things Nate says and has now read about six of them! He devours them in under an hour and asks me to pick up more every time I go to the library.

It is great to see my son's confidence in reading boosted by these wonderful books and to see him not only enjoying reading, but enjoying the stories and using his logical thinking skills to figure out the mysteries as well.

I would recommend this and other Nate the Great books to beginning-intermediate readers - ages 5-8/9. Enjoy! ... Read more

Product Description
Twelve-year-old Casey is waiting for the day that Barney, her father, hits it big -- 'cause when that horse comes in, he tells her, it's the penthouse suite. But then hr ends up in the hospital, and Casey is sent to Chinatown to live with her grandmother, Paw-Paw. Now the waiting seems longer than ever.

Casey feels lost in Chinatown. She's not prepared for the Chinese school, the noisy crowds, missing her father. But Paw-Paw tells her about the mother Casey never knew, and about her family's owl charm and her true Chinese name. And Casey at last begins to understand that this -- Paw-Paw's Chinatown home, her parents' home -- is her home,too. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

My two cents worth
It is a well wrighten fish out of water story but with a twist. It's like taking a fish out of your fish tank at home and putting it in the lake with the wild fish.

BEWARE what your kids are reading
Wow! I knew this book wasn't for us by page 24 when the author had already made a slang referance to women's breasts,glorified gambling for the whole 24 pages, referred to Playboy magazine, devoted a paragraph to a topless bar billboard description and used "Jesu Christe" as a curse.

My daughter was adopted from China, and when I came across my first 2 Lawrence Yep books, I was pleased with the creative writing and Asian-American cultural content. I don't know what all his other books are like, but I will certainly be reading any others thoroughly before I pass them down. I guess you can't trust an author by 2 books alone. And to think...I hadn't, yet, even gotten to the "cannibalism and spirits haunting the dead" part referenced by another reader in a previous review!

childs owl
Child of the Owl
Child of the Owl is an average book, it's about a Chinese girl that isn't wanted anywhere, and she loves her uncle. His name is Barney. He is a gambler, and he just lost big to big Mike. So she goes to paw paws house and lives there for a while. Many interesting things happen to Casey. Barney eventually gets his money back, and Casey lives with him. I did not like this book very much because, it got a little boring while Casey was at paw paw's house, there where a few interesting parts though, like when she went to her aunts house, her aunt had a husband and lots of other people in her family and they kept getting mad at Casey they thought she was dressed poorly and even thought she was a hoodlum. That was probably the most exciting and must interesting part in the story it was also very funny this books vocabulary was a little easy, and the author didn't use very many exciting words.

Excellent, superb, and other words of adulation
Here's the first sentence of "Child of the Owl":
"It was hard to understand Barney with the air tubes up his nose".

And from that sentence on it this book becomes one of the most readable I have ever encountered.Have you ever entered into a book, not knowing what to expect but suspecting that it's not going to retain your interest for very long?Knowing what little I did about "Child of the Owl", I walked into this gem of kiddie lit with more than a little trepidation.What I found was a story that was funny, touching, and ultimately informative.I'm naturally wary of books that are supposed to be "good" for children.That will teach them lessons about diversity while maintaining a sticky sweet didactic tone.But "Child of the Owl" isn't like that at all.Instead, it is honest-to-goodness gold.

The plot is especially good.Young streetwise Casey must leave her gambler father to live with her Grandmother in San Francisco's Chinatown for a little while.Laurence Yep has effectively written a tale that captures the spirit of a person never fully feeling as if they fit in.As the blurb on the cover of the books says, sometimes, "you can feel like a stranger, trapped in the wrong place, in the wrong time, even in the wrong body".What makes the book so eminently readable, however, is the care with which Yep has drawn upon his own experiences in 1964 Chinatown, to explain and examine Casey's reactions to life in that once tiny neighborhood.

Now if I was going to make a collection of Top Ten Children's Books Set In San Francisco, "Child of the Owl" would be number one.It would also be number one of Top Ten Intergenerational Children's Books and Top Ten Children's Books Containing Sarcastic Wisecracking Kids.Sorry Gilly Hopkins.Casey's got you beat.As a heroine she's funny, smart, and filled with reactions appropriate to a pre-adolescent.I highly recommend this book to any child wanting to learn more about the Chinese-American experience of living in America.The book speaks volumes to those living then and now.It is a book to be remembered.

it was okay
I read this book a long time ago in middle school and personally was able to relate to some of her Casey's feelings and experiences but I don't really remember what happened in the story.Don't take my word for it because I never paid that much attention to what I read back then.It was okay and she resembles some of my cousin and me when we were younger but I guess my parents would've thought she was silly.Thats all I remembered about it and the rest was okay but I guess its been too long ago since I read this book to write a review for it anyway. ... Read more