Knight Owl and Early Bird by Christopher Denise

I do hope you have already met Owl. After his victory over the dragon, he is now appointed as the Knight of the Night Watch. He has his nighttime routine. 

"While the other knights slept, he lit the torches, patrolled the walls, and made sure the fires were burning. All night long, Owl kept the castle safe."

At the end of each night, Owl has dinner and then heads off to his bed. Of course, we know owls are nocturnal, so he works at night and sleeps all day. But, in the best of stories, there is of course sure to be a complication - something to disrupt this daily pattern and I am sure you have already identified the disrupter - it is that little gal on the cover - Early Bird. She is young, enthusiastic, keen to be a knight, and she has no volume control as evidenced by the way she talks in a larger font and capital letters. Oh, and notice all of those exclamation marks.

"Hi - are you awake? My name is Early Bird! I'm your BIGGEST fan! I want to be a Knight Owl just like you! You can teach me everything. I'm a super-duper learner. I KNOW that I can be a Knight Owl!"

Owl just cannot cope with all this enthusiasm - he needs to sleep. While owl is sleeping or trying to sleep Early Bird keep herself busy - busy and noisy. Wait until you see Owl's eyes later that afternoon. Owl begins to show Early Bird the patrol routine but before the sun set Early Bird falls asleep. After several days of constant chatter by Early Bird, Owl explodes - STOP.

"You are not an owl! You are not a Knight! You are a VERY early Bird. ... PLEASE GO AWAY."

If you were making a graph of this story - this is a very low point. Little Early Bird heads of into the dangerous forest. If I were to read this book to a group of children, I would most certainly slow down and perhaps even pause at the point so the listeners might think for themselves about what might happen next. Luckily Owl misses little Early Bird and so as darkness falls he sets off to find her. Remember she has that LOUD voice. Wait until you see how our new small hero is able to save the day and also win over the friendship of Owl. You will also want to mix up a batch of pancakes with maple syrup to celebrate this wonderful moment of acceptance and new friendship.

An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. Kirkus Star review

When I read Knight Owl I gasped at how wonderful it was. If I was still working in my school library Knight Owl would most certainly be a book I would have shared with groups of students. And now we have another treat - Knight Owl and Early Bird. Listen to a conversation with Christopher Denise (13 minutes). You can see other books by Christopher Denise here. And you might like to follow him on Instagram.

I suspected there would be a different (and significant) image under the dust jacket. I adore these tiny videos of when covers are revealed. Here is a still image showing the illustration under the Knight Owl and Early Bird dust jacket.

Check out my previous post about Knight Owl by Christopher Denise which won a Caldecott Honor.

Exploring night time with picture books

Blurb for The Night World: One night, a little boy is awoken by his cat, Sylvie. Everyone in the house is sleeping, but outside, the Night World is wide awake! Beginning with a beautiful black-and-white palette, the shadows of the Night World come to life: lilies, sunflowers, rabbits, deer, and owls are all revealed as Sylvie and the boy explore the world outside his door. But the animals all know something new is coming--what could it be? Finally, in an explosion of colour, the dawn arrives.

I found The Night World by Mordicaai Gerstein on my recent library visit. It reminded me of The Night Garden by Elise Hurst and then I thought about The Night Walk by Marie Dorléans and If you were Night by Mượn Thị Văn illustrated by Kelly Pousette. 

The Night Walk

If you were Night

Blurb: When the sun sets and the moon rises, Sally and her cat, Strange, tiptoe out into The Night Garden. Transformed from neat hedges and flower beds into twisted shapes and creatures, the garden is now alive with magic and adventure.

You could also look for Felix and Alexander which is sadly long out of print but should still be in many school libraries. This is a brilliant book and it contains a night time adventure as Felix searches for his good friend Alexander. 

Felix and Alexander

Here are a few other books on this topic that I have added to my to read list:

Sing me the Summer by Jane Godwin illustrated by Alison Lester

"Sing me the summer

The sparkling sea

Our buckets and spades on the sand.

Shells by the rock pools

where tiny fish swim

and a crab scuttles over my hand."

Affirm Press have a wonderful video on their web site where Alison Lester shows in great detail the process she used to illustrate this book. It is especially interesting to see Jane Godwin's original text typed over a couple of pages. On this page Jane talks about her text and collaboration with Alison.

When you explore this book with a group of young children be sure to grab all the copies you can find of other books by Alison Lester. In Sing me the Summer you are sure to spy Noni the Pony; Bigsy; and the night time sky from Kissed by the Moon. I'm also sure many of the children have appeared in the series that began with Clive eats Alligators and also the little family in Are we there Yet? I found a Pinterest filled with images from Alison's work.

If you have a music teacher in your school it would be fabulous to set the words of this rhyming story to music. You could easily develop this story into a vibrant class item for a school assembly or other event.

Stories with repeated refrains work so well with preschool children and, whether you are reading to a group or just one little friend, everyone is sure to anticipate the words as you turn the page:

Here is the day ...  and here is the night.

This book would make a beautiful gift for a child living overseas. You will find  references to Australia such as wattle; paddock; gum trees; and roos. I am pleased to see there is no snow on the winter scenes while we do have a little snow in Australia the majority of the population do not see snow during the winter.

A huge amount of work has gone into the book design of Sing me the Summer. The end papers are covered with colourful leaves and show a subtle difference between night and day. The cover has embossed lettering. I love the way it feels. And the landscape format allows Alison to stretch her bright and lively illustrations right across two pages giving a full view of the beach; a outdoor birthday party; sunset on bonfire night; and camping out under the stars on a warm summer night.

If you have ever wanted to own a glorious illustration by Alison Lester take a look at the Melbourne based company Books Illustrated. 

The night box by Louise Greig illustrated by Ashling Lindsay

The lock waits for a key!

Here are the first lines from this lyrical picture book:

Day is yawning.
Quiet settles in the trees.
The birds fold their wings,
the singing stops.

Then read this:

Day slips out of the leaves,
out of the pond,
out of the pink rose
and the blue ball.
Max waves goodbye.

Max holds the key. He owns the box. When the time is right, Max opens the box and lifts the lid and day slips inside while night sweeps out. The night is beautiful and gradually all the nocturnal animals emerge. For Max, night means sleeping in his warm bed with his teddy bear. Eventually night needs to fall asleep so Max opens his box again and night slips inside as day sweeps out.

The idea of night and day held in a box to be released by a small boy who holds the key is a beautiful idea. If you are a collector of picture books or you need a special book to give as a gift I highly recommend The Night Box. There are wonderful little details in the illustrations and the writing is poetic and reassuring.

Max’s power to take charge of night and to celebrate as helets day out “and a new song begins” is evocative, simple, and reassuring. Kirkus Star review

The gentle, lyrical text dances across each page,complemented by the luminous illustrations that shine like the 'thousand stars'in the sky. Kids’ Book Review

If you have a child at home who gets nervous about the dark or worked up before bed, try this story. It is calming to read, adding a sense of tranquility and peace to a time that can be fraught with anxiety. Happily Ever Elephants

Sometimes a picture book text just flows over you, like the gentle lapping of a stream's cool currents or the whisper of a summer breeze. ReaditDaddy

The night box was short listed for many awards including the 2018 Klaus Flugge Prize and the paperback edition is currently available. Here are are set of very detailed teaching notes which focus on the language used in The night box.

Louise Greig and Ashling Lindsay have another book - Between Tick and Tock.