Customer Reviews

Owl At Home (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Owl At Home is the only Owl book that Lobel produced. Composed of five delightful tales, children will be delighted at the antics of owl and his misunderstandings!

In the story, The Guest, Owl invites winter into his home with all of her fury! Snow is everywhere and his pea soup becomes frozen. Shooing winter out the door, winter closes the door with a bang and Owl settles down once his fire is lit and warmth seeps back into this home. His soup thaws and Owl is once again contented!

Strange Bumps is hysterical as Owl tries to figure out why there are two bumps at the end of his bed, under his covers! Owls gyrations under the bed and under the covers are guaranteed to bring many laughs! Owl cannot figure out where they came from or why they will not leave. He finally settles into his easy chair in front of the fire to get a good nights sleep!

Tear-Water Tea is delightful as we see Owl cooking is favorite tear-water tea with his own tears. He thinks of all the sad things he can, such as mornings nobody saw because everybody was sleeping and pencils that are too short to use. Filling up his kettle with his tears, he is ready to enjoy his favorite tea! A tad bit salty for me though.

Upstairs and Downstairs depicts Owl running up and down his stairs to check on how the upstairs is doing and how the downstairs is doing. Owl does this all day long and into the evening and he discovers how tired he is and he cannot be in two places at once!

Owl and the Moon is a cute tale of Owl befriending the Moon. Owl knows that the Moon cannot fit through his door, and it saddens him that the Moon, his friend, cannot come into his house. Getting ready for bed, Owl notices that Moon is shining outside and has indeed followed him home. Going to sleep, Owl is no longer sad, as his friend is right outside his door.

Another wonderful Lobel, which is sure to delight and please readers young and old alike! I wish that Lobel had written more books on Owl!!

My mother read this book to me and my sister when I was four or five. Years later I had forgotten most of the book, but the concept of Tear-Water Tea stuck with me. During a conversation with friends when I was in college, something came up that made me think of the 'things that were sad' that Owl thinks of to make his tea. I absently remarked, "Spoons that have fallen behind the stove and are never seen again." and a friend automatically said, "Pencils that are too short to use." After a chorus of, "You read that book too! " I called home and asked mom, "Remember that book...what was the title?" And bought my own copy.

"Owl at Home" is a 'beginning readers' book, but it's perfect for all ages. Younger children will enjoy having it read aloud and adults will laugh at Owl's escapades along with the kids.

Owl's adventures with The Guest, Strange Bumps, Tear-Water Tea, Up stairs & Downstairs & The Moon are passionate & dramatic. Tear-Water Tea is my favorite & my children would beg me to read this one over & over again. Tear-Water Tea is a bitter-sweet brew. This little book & the friendly, affectionate Owl were one of my children's best friends in their early years. They loved the ideas of looking at life the way Owl does, they blink in anticipation as the stories gather speed & they hoot with laughter at Owl's take on life, then they snuggled with satisfaction when it's all done & we've talked about it...

This book is both beautiful and sweet. I initially checked it out from the library because I was looking for books that were more challenging than straight picture-books to read aloud to my then three year old daughter. I renewed it three times, which is the limit for my library.

Now I have had to purchase the book. I am pretty sure that I love this book as much as my daughter. Her favorite story is Strange Bumps, because she finds it hilarious that Owl cannot figure out that the "strange bumps" at the end of his bed are his own two feet. I vacillate between The Guest, because I find Owl's position by the fire eating soft pea soup utterly cozy and enchanting, and Tear-Water Tea, because I love Lobel's imaginative descriptions of the sad things that Owl thinks up to make himself cry. That story, in fact, has generated a whole new game in our household, which requires that my daughter and I "talk about nice things and sad things."

My only complaint about this book is that Lobel wrote only one book with Owl as the main character.

I am 33 and have only saved a handfull of books from my childhood. "Owl at Home" is one of them and by far my favorite, then and now. I love reading it to my three year old and I hope that she will save it for her children. The whimsical antics of Owl match the silly atmosphere in our home and encourage original thinking.

I read this book like crazy when I was in Kindergarten. The art in the book is great, seriously. From the weather moot Owl story to the others, the art is so wonderful. I think that's one of the better parts of this book. The mood and enrivonment is so enticing.

It was actually quite funny I remember as a kid.

It's insane to look back on this after a decade or more. I recommend this book to anyone looking for Children's Stories, either at school for teachers or for families.

Arnold Lobel strikes storytelling gold every time he picks up a pen, and Owl at Home may be his best book ever.

The book is divided into five separate stories, each of which feature the somewhat silly, but very lovable Owl, who lives alone in his country house. The pictures are soft and full of atmosphere, often creating a sense of foreboding to be dispelled. The stories themselves are real crackers, generally eschewing a hard moral in favor of playful silliness.

For example, in one story Owl is saddened at the thought of Winter, rattling around outside in the cold, and so he opens his door to invite Winter in. But Winter proves to be a less-than-stellar houseguest, whirling about the cozy home and freezing Owl's pea-soup supper. In the end, Owl insists that Winter depart, and sits down to wait for his soup to melt by the fire.

Parents and children will delight in sharing this magical storybook together. The magical whimsy and gentle fun just cannot be beaten. I highly recommend it.

This even surpasses the Forg and Toad books, which every child must read. As good as children's books get!

What a joy this book has been in my life! I listened to my "read-along" record (yes, record) so many times that it was covered with scratches. I remember these little stories as the spark that began my interest in reading. Today I read them to God-daughter, and her laughter is matched only by my own.

My son, now 36, loved Owl in his day. My neighbor, 5, who first told me Owl was stupid because of the story "Bumps" now says, "This book rocks!" Pretty good longevity for a little, unpretentious book for kids. The stories are short enough to make it a perfect way to inject some reading at bedtime and engaging enough for reading anytime.