Book Talk #5

Written by Mike Thaler

Illustrated by David Wiesner

 

             This is a story about a young owl named Owly and his mother. Owly is very curious and asks his mother many questions every nigh under the stars. He asks questions such as, How many stars are in the sky?, How high is the sky?, How many waves are in the ocean? and How deep is the ocean?. After Owly asks these questions, his mother replies, "There are many stars in the sky, the sky is very high, there are many waves in the ocean and the ocean is very deep". Owly would ask his mother, "No, how many? how high? or, how deep?". His mother would tell Owly to give find out for himself.

            Owly spent many nights sitting up and counting hundreds of waves and stars. He even spent a night flying as high as he could. Every morning he would return and his mother would ask if his question was answered. He would reply, "there are too many stars in the sky to count, too many waves to count, the ocean was too deep to swim and the sky was so high he couldn't reach the top".

            Owly spent the next night thinking about the stars, the waves, the ocean and the sky and all that he had learned from his mother. The next morning, Owly tells his mother he loves her. She asks, "how much?" He says, "I love you as much as the sky is high and the ocean is deep". The mother hugs Owly, and he asks, "How many more hugs are you going to give me?" She replies, "As many as there are waves in the ocean and stars in the sky".

            In the end, Owly thought that his mother had taught him about the sky and the ocean; but in truth, he learned all on his own. The moral of the story was to not just ask questions, but find your own answers, don't just believe what you hear. This story is great for younger grades who are constantly curious and asking questions. There is no better way to find answers than to find them on your own. I found this story to be heartwarming and a sweet portrayal of a mother/son relationship.