I may not know why owls are so popular all of a sudden, but I'm ready to join in! Owls are certainly a superb species, and well worth all the recent hype. Fun fact, did you know that there are over 200 species of owls in the world? Or that the smallest species of owl, the elf owl, only grows to be six inches tall? Whether you love owls for their wisdom, their deadly talons, or their silent flight, why not check out some superb owl materials today?
- Owl Non-Fiction
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What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman [2023]
For millennia, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented more than thirty thousand years ago in the Chauvet Cave paintings in southern France. With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Though our fascination goes back centuries, scientists have only recently begun to understand in deep detail the complex nature of these extraordinary birds. Some two hundred sixty species of owls exist today, and they reside on every continent except Antarctica, but they are far more difficult to find and study than other birds because they are cryptic, camouflaged, and mostly active in the dark of night.
Jennifer Ackerman illuminates the rich biology and natural history of these birds and reveals remarkable new scientific discoveries about their brains and behavior. She joins scientists in the field and explores how researchers are using modern technology and tools to learn how owls communicate, hunt, court, mate, raise their young, and move about from season to season. We now know that the hoots, squawks, and chitters of owls follow sophisticated and complex rules, allowing them to express not just their needs and desires but their individuality and identity. Owls duet. They migrate. They hoard their prey. Some live in underground burrows; some roost in large groups; some dine on black widows and scorpions.
Ackerman brings this research alive with her own personal field observations about owls and dives deep into why these birds beguile us. What an Owl Knows is an awe-inspiring exploration of owls across the globe and through human history, and a spellbinding account of their astonishing hunting skills, communication, and sensory prowess. By providing extraordinary new insights into the science of owls, What an Owl Knows pulls back the curtain on the nature of the world’s most enigmatic group of birds.The Wise Hours: A Journey into the Wild and Secret World of Owls by
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One minute I was sipping my tea by the window. There was nothing but the palest edge of grey light and a wisp of steam from my cup―and then a shadow swooped out of the air. With the lightest of scratches, as if the dawn light was solidifying into life, there it was, perched like an exclamation mark on the balcony: an owl, come to my home. Owls have existed for over sixty million years, and in the relatively short time we have shared the planet with these majestic birds they have ignited the human imagination. But even as owls continue to captivate our collective consciousness, celebrated British nature writer Miriam Darlington finds herself struck by all she doesn’t know about the true nature of these enigmatic creatures.
Darlington begins her fieldwork in the British Isles with her teenage son, Benji. As her avian fascination grows, she travels to France, Serbia, Spain, Finland, and the frosted Lapland borders of the Arctic for rare encounters with the Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, Long-eared Owl, Pygmy Owl, Snowy Owl, and more. But when her son develops a mysterious illness, her quest to understand the elusive nature of owls becomes entangled with her search for finding a cure.
In The Wise Hours , Darlington watches and listens to the natural world and to the rhythms of her home and family, inviting readers to discover the wonders of owls alongside her while rewilding our imagination with the mystery, fragility, and magnificence of all creatures.Image
Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe by Carl Safina [2023]
A moving account of raising, then freeing, an orphaned owl, whose lasting friendship with the author illuminates humanity’s relationship with the world.
When ecologist Carl Safina and his wife, Patricia, took in a near-death baby owl, they expected that, like other wild orphans they’d rescued, she’d be a temporary presence. But Alfie’s feathers were not growing correctly, requiring prolonged care. And soon Carl and Patricia began to realize that the healing was mutual.
Alfie & Me is the story of the remarkable impact this little owl would have on their lives. The continuing bond of trust following her freedom—and her raising of her own wild brood—drew Carl and Patricia across the boundary into Alfie’s world, allowing them a view of existence from Alfie’s perspective. Interwoven with Safina’s reflections on humankind’s relationship with the living world across cultures and throughout history, Alfie & Me is a work of profound beauties and magical timing harbored within one upended year.Image
Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl by Jonathan C. Slaght [2020]
A field scientist and conservationist tracks the elusive Blakiston's Fish Owl in the forbidding reaches of eastern Russia.
I saw my first Blakiston’s fish owl in the Russian province of Primorye, a coastal talon of land hooking south into the belly of Northeast Asia . . . No scientist had seen a Blakiston’s fish owl so far south in a hundred years . . .
When he was just a fledgling birdwatcher, Jonathan C. Slaght had a chance encounter with one of the most mysterious birds on Earth. Bigger than any owl he knew, it looked like a small bear with decorative feathers. He snapped a quick photo and shared it with experts. Soon he was on a five-year journey, searching for this enormous, enigmatic creature in the lush, remote forests of eastern Russia. That first sighting set his calling as a scientist.
Despite a wingspan of six feet and a height of over two feet, the Blakiston’s fish owl is highly elusive. They are easiest to find in winter, when their tracks mark the snowy banks of the rivers where they feed. They are also endangered. And so, as Slaght and his devoted team set out to locate the owls, they aim to craft a conservation plan that helps ensure the species’ survival. This quest sends them on all-night monitoring missions in freezing tents, mad dashes across thawing rivers, and free-climbs up rotting trees to check nests for precious eggs. They use cutting-edge tracking technology and improvise ingenious traps. And all along, they must keep watch against a run-in with a bear or an Amur tiger. At the heart of Slaght’s story are the fish owls themselves: cunning hunters, devoted parents, singers of eerie duets, and survivors in a harsh and shrinking habitat.
Through this rare glimpse into the everyday life of a field scientist and conservationist, Owls of the Eastern Ice testifies to the determination and creativity essential to scientific advancement and serves as a powerful reminder of the beauty, strength, and vulnerability of the natural world.Image
So You Want to Be an Owl by Jane Porter [2021] Do you have what it takes to be an owl? Find out in this funny, fact-filled picture book.
Welcome to Owl School! Professor Olaf Owl is here to tell you everything you need to know about being an owl, from hunting to camouflage to seeing in the dark. Study hard, and soon you'll be a first-rate member of Team Owl! This engaging nonfiction picture book is full of vibrant, humorous illustrations and owl lessons that will have readers eagerly practicing their hoots, toe swivels, and alertness (even if they can't grow feathers).Image
Greta the Great Horned Owl: A True Story of Rescue and Rehabilitation by Christie Gove-Berg [2019] The true story of an injured owl’s recovery and return to nature Greta the Great Horned Owl is out hunting mice. She has no idea that her life is about to change forever. A train strikes her, severely injuring her wing and leg. A rescue team brings her to a wildlife rehabilitation center―and this is just the beginning of her story. Will surgery save her wing? Can Greta learn to fly again? Her only hope of returning to the wild is to prove that she can hunt. Greta the Great Horned Owl is a true story told with gorgeous photographs and heartwarming text by award-winning author Christie Gove-Berg. Through Greta’s journey, readers learn about owls and wildlife rehabilitation centers.
Greta the Great Horned Owl is both entertaining and educational, helping to instill in children an appreciation of animals and nature.Image
From Egg to Owl by Jennifer Boothroyd [2016] How does an egg become an owl? Follow each step in the cycle―from a small, round egg to a powerful owl―in this fascinating book!
- Owl Fiction
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Adult Fiction
The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka [2024]
“Murder owls are extreme,” Jude said. “What’s more extreme than murder owls?”
Madeleine Purdy is stuck in her home town library.
When tens of thousands of owls descend on the building, rending and tearing at anyone foolish enough to step outside, Mad is tasked with keeping her students safe, and distracted, while they seek a solution to their dilemma.
Perhaps they’ll find the inspiration they seek in her favorite childhood book, The Silent Queen….
With food and fresh water in low supply, the denizens of the library will have to find a way out, and soon, but the owls don’t seem to be in a hurry to leave…
The Parliament is a story of grief and missed opportunities, but also of courage and hope.
And of extremely sharp beaks.Image
Adult Mystery
Owl Be Home for Christmas by Donna Andrews [2019]
It's a few days before Christmas, and Meg's grandfather is hosting a scientific conference on owls at the Caerphilly Inn. Most of the family are there, helping out in one capacity or another. An unexpectedly severe snow storm traps the conference-goers in the hotel, and one of the visiting ornithologists is murdered. Even if Caerphilly is able to clear the roads in time, Chief Burke doesn't want the various suspects to scatter to half a dozen continents before he identifies the killer, so there's a very real possibility that none of them will make it home for Christmas . . . at least not unless Meg comes to the rescue.
Full of intrigue and snow, this Christmas mystery will take readers home to Caerphilly for Christmas.Image
Adult Mystery
A Brushstroke with Death by Bethany Blake [2019]
Near the creek that runs behind her Pennsylvania house, Willow Bellamy has converted an old barn into an art school—though the place does still have some animal inhabitants, including Rembrandt, the owl who lives up in the rafters. And while it’s important for any artist to have a vision, Willow can sometimes see things others can’t, just like her mother and grandmother before her. Not that she would exactly call herself a witch . . .
When some local merchants gather in the studio for a painting party, they focus their attention on a still life with flowers and an assortment of garden tools, including antique pruning shears that soon disappear—at the same time despised restaurant owner Evangeline Fletcher is murdered. Willow must use all her gifts to find the killer, although it means teaming up with a handsome, mysterious detective whom Willow fears she may have accidentally conjured from a canvas. This investigation is sure to be a hoot . . .Young Adult Mystery
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Unfortunately, Roy’s first acquaintance in Florida is Dana Matherson, a well-known bully. Then again, if Dana hadn’t been sinking his thumbs into Roy’s temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and–here’s the odd part–wore no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy’s trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails.
Roy has most definitely arrived in Carl Hiaasen’s Florida.Children's Fantasy
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The Capture by Kathryn Lasky [2003]
Pushed from his family's nest by his older brother, barn owl Soren is rescued from certain death on the forest floor by agents from a mysterious school for orphaned owls, St. Aggie's. With a new friend, clever and scrappy Gylfie, he uncovers a training camp for the leader's own nefarious goal.
Children's Fiction
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The Way Home by Andy Runton [2004]
wly is a good-natured little owl, and he's always helping those around him. But despite his kindness, he seems to frighten would-be friends away before they even give him a chance, just because he's an owl. That all changes, though, once Owly meets Wormy. Like Owly, Wormy is in need of a good friend, too -- someone who can be counted on for a helping hand, a good laugh, and a great adventure!
Through a unique blend of words and symbols, Owly can be read by the youngest readers, and is a great introduction to graphic novels!Children's Fiction
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Eva's Treetop Festival by Rebecca Elliott [2015]
Eva Wingdale gets in over her head when she offers to organize a spring festival at school. Even with her best friend Lucy's help, there is NO way she will get everything done in time. Will Eva have to ask Sue (a.k.a. Meanie McMeanerson) for help? Or will the festival have to be cancelled? This book is written as Eva's diary—with Rebecca Elliott's owl-dorable full-color illustrations throughout!
This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!Picture Book
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Knight Owl by Christopher Denise [2022]
A determined Owl builds strength and confidence in this medieval picture book about the real mettle of a wits, humor, and heart.
Since the day he hatched, Owl dreamed of becoming a real knight. He may not be the biggest or the strongest, but his sharp nocturnal instincts can help protect the castle, especially since many knights have recently gone missing. While holding guard during Knight Night Watch, Owl is faced with the ultimate trial—a frightening intruder. It’s a daunting duel by any measure. But what Owl lacks in size, he makes up for in good ideas.
Full of wordplay and optimism, this surprising display of bravery proves that cleverness (and friendship) can rule over brawn.
- Owl Movies
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Roy Eberhardt has moved with his family so often he literally has lost count of the number of times he has had to changed schools. Roy ought to be used to being the new kid at school by now, but making the switch from Montana to Florida proves to be a major challenge. While Roy quickly becomes the target of school bully, he is befriended by Beatrice Leep, a spunky girl with enough nerve to stand up to Dana, and her brother Mullet Fingers. Beatrice and Mullet share a big secret with Roy, they have a hidden hideaway where they look after a flock of endanged owls. That is of little concern to Chuck Muckle, a top executive from the Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House chain, who is planning to build a new restaurant in the hollow where the owls nest. The three kids are determined to find a way to save the owls and have a plan. They have uncovered some evidence of some dirty doings tied in to the pancake house.
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Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole [2010]
Young owl Soren marvels at his father's epic stories of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, mythic winged warriors who fought a great battle to save all owl kind from the evil Pure Ones. When he and brother Kludd fall from their treetop home and into the talons of the Pure Ones, it's up to Soren to make a daring escape with the help of other brave owls.
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What actually makes owls so special? Bird trainers Lloyd and Rose Buck and their very special family of owls provide a rare opportunity to learn more about these unique birds. Using the latest technology, we can take a brand new look at owls in more detail than ever before. The real stories behind how they hunt, how their vision and hearing works, and how they fly so silently are influencing 21st century technology and design.
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Disney proudly presents the 50th anniversary edition of a spellbinding and beloved animated classic. Take an amazing journey with a young orphan named 'Wart' and the extraordinary wizard Merlin. According to legend, only someone with the purest character and inner strength can pull the enchanted sword from the stone and claim the throne of England. Armed with newfound confidence and the power of friendship, Wart discovers his destiny and learns the best magic is the kind found inside the soul.
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The tale of Mrs. Brisby, the timid mouse who becomes a heroine in spite of herself. She gets help in saving her family from Farmer Fitzgibbon's plow from a crow, an owl and some intelligent rats.