JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The site is updated daily with information about every book, author, illustrator, and publisher in the children's / young adult book industry. Members include published authors and illustrators, librarians, agents, editors, publicists, booksellers, publishers and fans. Join now (it's free).
Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.
Blog Posts by Tag
In the past 7 days
Blog Posts by Date
Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: owls, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 26 - 44 of 44
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: owls in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
OMG Steph, LOVE! I’m a huge fan of owls (at least this month I am) so I’m digging these. I like them both, but there’s something a little creepy/devious about the first one. I think it’s the owl’s eyes.
Alison Kolesar said, on 8/24/2011 11:22:00 AM
I think owls aren’t very sociable and maybe they don’t get much encouragement to be. When I was biking the other morning I heard some birds making a racket and looked up to see what it was about and saw they were screeching at an owl high in a tree.
stephanie said, on 8/24/2011 3:17:00 PM
Yay! Thanks Jen! The eyes were a happy accident. I was showing my husband the image on the computer, going back and forth between the color version and the silhouette. At one point the layer with the eyes stayed on and DH said he liked it. I did too. It made the image so much better and added emotion. So happy I realized that before getting the postcards printed!
Alison, Thanks for sharing your story! It’s what I was picturing in my head when I drew this (except I imagined them singing instead of screeching, while the owl wanted to sleep).
C.K. said, on 8/26/2011 5:57:00 PM
I feel like the owl’s in the process of rolling his eyes in the first one – sick of all the chatter I think you might be right that some birds don’t like parties, or maybe owl just needed some quiet time at the end of a hard night.
To help launch the August release of my new picture book "Prairie Storms", written by Darcy Pattison and published by Sylvan Dell Publishing, I will be making available FREE coloring pages drawn by me! Each coloring page features a month with a scene which coordinates with a scene from the book. Just click the image, then either download the coloring page, or drag and drop it to your desk top. Be sure to print the image in a "landscape" format on your printer. The image size is 8.5" X 11". I would love to see your child's finished, colored page when they have finished coloring it.
0 Comments on "Prairie Storms": New Book Release Coloring Pages! as of 1/1/1900
As we read around Europe I’ll be making occasional brief trips back to the UK to review some of the latest releases in the anglo-saxon kidlit publishing world and today is such a day. One of my favourite books last year was One Smart Fish by Chris Wormell (which I reviewed here, and which later in the year deservedly won the Booktrust Early Years Award), so when I saw that Wormell had a new book out I was keen to get hold of a copy and see if he could follow up One Smart Fish with another gem in the form of Scruffy Bear and the Six White Mice.
Photo: Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden
One dark night a kindly bear thinks on his feet to save the life of six white mice hunted by an owl, a fox and a snake. As the mice curl themselves up into tight balls, Scruffy Bear convinces the predators that what he has at his feet are not mice, but rather snowballs, eggs or apples. At the last moment the hunters realise they’ve been tricked but by then Scruffy Bear and his new friends have made off and are safe and sound thanks to his quick thinking.
I’m sure some reviews will say that this book celebrates ingenuity, quick wittedness and courage, all characteristics we might wish to encourage in our kids as we read to them. But I’m afraid that this is not a book that has shot into my early-favourites-for-2011 list.
Scruffy Bear’s alternative descriptions of what the owl, fox and snake find on the ground just don’t work for me. I suppose they are meant to be clever but they lacked the kernel of believability that I think is necessary to carry the story forward.
Maybe this is a case of where an adult reaction to a book is very different to that which it might receive from a child. Indeed, M and J have both enjoyed this book a great deal and find Scruffy Bear’s white lies very funny indeed, but reading the book out loud I didn’t enjoy it to the same degree. In an ideal picture book I’m looking for something that my kids and I enjoy equally (even if for different reasons) and for this reason Scruffy Bear and the Six White Mice didn’t thrill me the way One Smart Fish did.
Maybe I’m missing the point entirely and Scruffy Bear’s alternative explanation for the six furry balls at his feet are meant to be totally outrageous and unbelievable in order that we can enjoy laughing all the more at fooling the owl, fox and snake. But if the enemy turns out to be just plain stupid, rather than the protagonist actually clever, the story falls a little flat for me.
The illustrations are perfectly nice and Wormell can definitely draw beautiful animals but like the story, whilst the illustrations are fine and appeal to the children I didn’t fall in love with them or feel that thrill of excitement I d
2 Comments on Quick thinking saves the day, last added: 1/16/2011
There’s a long tradition of trickster tales, which tend to involve deceit, so the fibs of the bear wouldn’t bother me in context.
A similar issue is “Runaway Bunny”, which is all about a mother always finding her son no matter where he runs off to hide. But really, what is the boy doing running away? But the story is more about the emotional arc, not the actual plot, and in any case the bunny’s plans are too fantastical to emulate.
Zoe said, on 1/16/2011 10:28:00 PM
Hi Beth,
Ah – that’s good to know – about the wider context for this type of story. I guess this is just the first time that the use of fibs came up for us – maybe simply because M is now old enough to see the fibs, to know that we don’t normally encourage fibs and putting all that together to comment on it to me. Can you suggest another trickster tale picture book involving fibs we might enjoy here?
The first set of three books have been made in to a movie that will be in the theaters September 24.
The Forest of Tyto is where Barn Owls dwell, and Soren is three weeks old when he is snatched by patrols of evil owls and taken to a canyon named St. Aegoluis. A variety of owls have been snatched from the various owl kingdoms: Great Horned Owl, Great Gray Owl, Western Screech Owl, Snowy Owl, Long-eared Owl, Elf Owl, Burrowing Owl, and Barn Owl. These young owls are made to labor--they are enslaved. Soren and his friends think only of escaping, but they first must learn to fly.
I have a great love for owls! I have noticed themes of owls: from notebooks, to lunch kits, to fictional book themes, to jewelry; owls seem to be everywhere!
I felt this book was exceptional in teaching a lesson in encouragement and steadfastness in helping others. Soren is a knightly character, he has chivalry--courtesy, honor, generosity, and bravery. I loved this book, I noticed that on the Scholastic website there is an activity link for teachers.
0 Comments on Guardians of Ga'hoole: #1 The Capture by Kathryn Lasky as of 1/1/1900
Some more pictures of the painting I'm doing for John, Leah and Edward. I'm having tremendous amounts of fun doing this. These photos show a slightly different process step then usual. Here, instead of doing a full under-painting like I often do when the painting will be in gouache/mixed media, I've done a sepia under-painting/drawing. This is how I did the book Anything But Hank, hoping it would unify the colours more and give it an almost Victorian look.
5 Comments on Owl, Cat And Fox Too, last added: 4/8/2010
Here's a picture I'm working on for John Reppion and Leah Moore; comic book friends and very talented writers. I'm really happy with this one, I think it's one of the better pieces I've done in a while. As I've been working on it I've been watching Hammer horror films...I hope not too much of that gothic sensibility finds its way in.
4 Comments on Owl, Cat And Fox, last added: 4/7/2010
Hi there Eric Thanks for passing by my blog, and for the zombies plug a few posts past:) It was great to work with John and Leah they've done some cracking stuff since too:) Looking forward to seeing these painted peices of yours!
I was looking around Etsy yesterday to get some ideas of what's hot out there even though I hate hate hate following trends! But I also hate being unemployed. I see owls everywhere lately but the real stylized, cutesy kind which isn't my thing. (Although I do have a really cute notepad!) Anyway, I sat down and did a couple of miniature paintings in a new series I'll be doing called "Me And My Peeps." Just little cropped views of owls. Maybe another type of bird will sneak in there too, but there are already two artists on Etsy doing that and I don't like to copy/steal/borrow ideas. But I didn't see any realistic owls, so yay! My new series begins.
Happy Animal Wednesday!
18 Comments on Animal Wednesday: Whoooooo, Us?, last added: 2/27/2010
KJ, Um...peeps are what little birds are maybe? Or the sound they make? Or maybe that's just chickies. Hmmm. Okay, then how about I'm only showing a glimpse of them and so it's like a peep show!
Owls are my amakua (and I didn't spell that right-it's basically a totem animal). Usually an owl takes residence close by where I live-even when I didn't have small ratlike canines.
My cousin Cindy's animal is the buzzard-they follow her everywhere.
I had a native American friend who was very upset by my affinity with the Great Horned Owls who lived in my barn, but I couldn't help it-friends are friends and they were my good friends.
These are wonderful - both the idea and the artwork. I have a funny owl story. there was an owl perched in a tree near my MIL's house, another owl came along and perched in that same tree and they both started hooting and hollering at each other. it was wild, and DH and I stood and watched openmouthed. MIL ran outside and said "what's going on, should I call the police?".
Can you imagine calling the police on two noisy birds? We cracked up laughing.
Lolo, these owls are gorgeous! I love raptors, they are so regal and dignified. Best of luck on Etsy, I'll bet they'll do great! Thanks again for helping me get started on AW, I hope to post a drawing next time.
You are so good that when I saw the blip on my dashboard of your first owl I said outloud "She did NOT do that!" Lo and behold, she DID! Wow! They are terrific. I hope you sell a ton of them.
Flying cats! They are incredible and your paintings have captured their special souls! Nothing wrong with thinking of ways to make money. You couldn't paint them like that if you don't love them. It shows. Great series!
Many people collect owl "things". These little sketches will be perfect. You have captured those eyes so well. This owl looks to be peeping indeed. Best of luck and HAW.
Love the owls, they are a hoot! Sorry, had to go there. I like doing paintings with the subject cropped up a bit, like the fruit I have been doing. LOVE the raven in the kimono....so very nice!
I love your owls, one of my favourite animals of all time. I miss hearing their calls, now where we live in town. First foster spaniel may be on its way.
wishing a speedy recovery for henry. dig those owls, the spot colour really works, and, as ever, this side of charles vess, you do some of the best clouds.
Beautiful, your linework is always amazing and I really like the dark silhouettes. Hope Henry will get better very soon. I know it is hard when they are so little... :)
Whoo Goes There? by Jennifer A. Ericsson, illustrated by Bert Kitchen
Everything was dark and quiet. Owl sat alone on a branch in a tall tree, waiting and watching. Whenever something rustled, thumped or squeaked, Owl wondered, “Whoo goes there?” He hoped it was something just right for his dinner. But each time it was not a fat mouse or squirrel, it was a cat, a skunk or a bat. Finally, Owl knew it WAS a mouse, and he headed into the darkness to try to catch it.
This book based on a simple premise offers more depth than most repetitive stories. Here we see nature in action, tension builds with each creature that isn’t edible, and the ending is perfectly satisfying with a touch of humor. Ericsson’s prose uses the repetition nicely, never becoming sing-songy or dull, but using it instead to create a vivid mood. Combined with Kitchen’s incredibly lifelike illustrations, this book offers a book that will give children a tingle with no real fear. Kitchen’s art is beautifully rendered. He shows the detail of the bark of a tree contrasted with the spines of a porcupine in just one of his masterful images. Each one is a window into nature and into that creature.
Highly recommended, this is an ideal book for story times with toddlers. I would consider it for Halloween story times where the children are a bit young for monster books but want a little thrill still. Appropriate for ages 2-5.
The simple prose of this night-time picture book is made magnificent by its illustrations. Owl is awake alone all night and watches all sorts of beasts sleep through the darkness. Every creature sleeps differently even though they are all asleep at night. Then when dawn comes, everyone else wakes up while owl falls asleep.
According to the blurb in the book, the illustrations are a combination of handmade painterly textures with digitally generated layers compiled in Adobe Photoshop. The result is complex and lovely. The illustrations are filled with repeating motifs, patterns used as shadows, grass and skies. They are large and while not bright-colored, they will project well for use with a group of children.
Inspiring art in a simple picture book, this book is perfect bedtime reading for toddlers where the adults will enjoy lingering on each page just as much as the child. Appropriate for ages 2-5.
It's another Me 'n Henry kinda day so a shorter post. This is a Moleskine sketch I did in homage to one of my favorite illustrators/toy designers Nathan Jurevicius.
4 Comments on Homage To A Toy Maker, last added: 10/18/2009
Apartment Therapy posted photos of Sam Grawe’s apartment yesterday as part of their 2008 home tour series. Sam is the Editor-in-Chief at the San Francisco based Dwell Magazine. If you are unfamiliar with Dwell, it is a magazine that focuses on modern architecture and design.
Sam has lots of goodies in his house. The place is filled with Danish modern furniture, Bertoia chairs and Scandinavian nic nacs. What did me in was the record covers and the owls. This is a man that loves owls! He has a slew of these Edvard Lindahl looking ceramic miniature birds of prey. Too be fair, it looks he holds no Owl biases. I see examples of Strigidae (Heck yea, I’m name dropping) as well as the barn yard variety. I actually know nothing about Owls. I picked all this up in a two minute search at Wikipedia. Anyways, I’m getting off track. To sum up, just check out the house tour.
This snowy owl - I do love the arctic climes - is my contribution to the Keene State Festival Owl Project. Its taken me a while to get this together, but it's in the mail this afternoon. Enjoy!
Dictionaries, for all their virtues, can sometimes be troublemakers. Ever since the dawn of word processing, dictionaries have been mined to create wordlists for automated spellcheckers. (OUP, for example, offers its own spellchecker on CD-ROM in addition to licensing its dictionary data for various handheld devices and software add-ons.) These dictionary-derived inventories are used to detect and correct spelling errors, by checking to see if the words in a user’s text match what’s found in the wordlist. If an error is detected, algorithms help decide what the user might have meant to type and alternatives are suggested from the accepted list of words. Of course, a spellchecker is only as good as its wordlist and its correction algorithms. Anyone who has spellchecked a document is familiar with the laughably incongruous suggestions that are sometimes provided. And every once in a while incautious users allow these laughers to get through to their final text.
Librarians have indeed been keeping certain facts under wraps. Those of you who know that Stephen has laid claim to inventing the term "truthiness" may be interested to know that someone has legitimate evidence on hand to suggest that they themselves conjured it up. What's more, she's a librarian.
.jpeg?picon=3306)
OMG Steph, LOVE! I’m a huge fan of owls (at least this month I am) so I’m digging these. I like them both, but there’s something a little creepy/devious about the first one. I think it’s the owl’s eyes.
I think owls aren’t very sociable and maybe they don’t get much encouragement to be. When I was biking the other morning I heard some birds making a racket and looked up to see what it was about and saw they were screeching at an owl high in a tree.
Yay! Thanks Jen! The eyes were a happy accident. I was showing my husband the image on the computer, going back and forth between the color version and the silhouette. At one point the layer with the eyes stayed on and DH said he liked it. I did too. It made the image so much better and added emotion. So happy I realized that before getting the postcards printed!
Alison, Thanks for sharing your story! It’s what I was picturing in my head when I drew this (except I imagined them singing instead of screeching, while the owl wanted to sleep).
I feel like the owl’s in the process of rolling his eyes in the first one – sick of all the chatter
I think you might be right that some birds don’t like parties, or maybe owl just needed some quiet time at the end of a hard night.