Owl at Home (I Can Read Book 2) (Library Binding)

by Arnold Lobel (Author, Illustrator) "Owl was at home..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Welcome to Owl's cozy home.Owl lives by himself in a warm little house. One evening he invites Winter to sit by the fire. Another time he finds strange bumps in his bedroom. And when Owl goes for a walk one night, he makes a friend that follows him all the way home.

About the Author
During his distinguished career Arnold Lobel wrote and/or illustrated over 70 books for children. To his illustrating credit, he had a Caldecott Medal book -- Fables (1981) -- and two Caldecott Honor Books-his own Frog and Toad are Friends (1971) and Hildilid's Night by Cheli Duran Ryan (1972). To his writing credit, he had a Newbery Honor Book -- Frog and Toad Together (1973). But to his greatest credit, he had a following of literally millions of young children with whom he shared the warmth and humor of his unpretentious vision of life.

Though he was a born storyteller -- he began making up stories extemporaneously to entertain his fellow second-graders in Schenectady, New York, where he grew up in the care of his grandparents. Mr. Lobel called himself a "lucky amateur" in terms of his writing. Viewing himself as a professionally trained illustrator (he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute), he said, "I know how to draw pictures. With writing, I don't really know what I'm doing. It's very intuitive."

In addition to the Frog and Toad books, Owl at Home, Mouse Tales, The Book of Pigericks, and many other popular books he created, Mr. Lobel also illustrated other writers' texts that captured his fancy. He viewed this as "something different and challenging." Often his illustrations for those books showed a different aspect of his personality and his artistic expertise, ranging from his meticulous dinosaurs in Dinosaur Time by Peggy Parish to his chilling pen-and-ink drawings in Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep by Jack Prelutsky, about which Booklist wrote, "Young readers will be amazed that the gentle Lobel of Frog and Toad fame can be so comfortably diabolic."

In 1977 Mr. Lobel and his wife, Anita, a distinguished children's book author and artist in her own right, collaborated on their first book, How the Rooster Saved the Day, chosen by School Library Journal as one of the Best Books of the Year, 1977. They then collaborated on three more books, A Treeful of Pigs, a 1979 ALA Notable Book; On Market Street, a 1982 Caldecott Honor Book; and The Rose in My Garden, a 1984 Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Book.

Arnold Lobel died in 1987.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Library Binding: 64 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (October 8, 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060239492
• ISBN-13: 978-0060239497
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,146,415 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Owl is a hoot!, April 9, 2002

By	Judith E. Pavluvcik (Dreaming of the beach in California, but living in the reality of the desert in Arizona!!) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Owl at Home Book and Tape (I Can Read Book 2) (Audio Cassette)

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!!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Owl At Home in our hearts, May 21, 2000

By	Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Owl at Home (I Can Read Book 2) (Paperback)

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...

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tear-Water Tea, December 5, 1999

By	Jessica Davenport "zoenikos" (Warwick, RI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Owl at Home (I Can Read Book 2) (Paperback)

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.