Owly and Knights vs. Dinosaurs
also, the first GIVEAWAY! 🎉
Hello!
Before we get into the books today, I have a favor to ask you.
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Since new subscribers find me all the time (THANK YOU!) I’ll let this contest run a full two weeks, ending it on 2/23/23 (oooh, that’s a lucky date if ever I saw one!)
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Done with the business, now onto the books!
Owly (series), by Andy Runton (2020, 2021, 2022)
Owly is a kind little owl who just wants to meet a friend. He tries to help the other forest creatures, but there’s just one problem: because he’s a bird of prey, they’re all afraid of him!
One day, when Owly is trudging home through a rainstorm after another failed attempt at friendship, he hears a call for help. He rescues a worm from a puddle and nurses him back to health.
Owly and Wormy become inseparable, and the rest of the series focuses on their adventures, challenges, and new friendships.
Young readers will naturally be drawn toward Owly. He’s adorable and expressive, persistent in his kindness and in helping others—even after he’s shunned.
Author and illustrator Andy Runton first published the Owly books in the early 2000s. The original stories were black and white and contained no text. Instead, the characters communicated entirely in symbols and pictures.
A few years ago, Scholastic’s Graphix imprint worked with Runyon to rerelease the series. Now, the books are full color and the forest creatures converse in words, except for Owly.
In a 2020 interview with the School Library Journal, Runton talks about his adaptations and why he chose to keep Owly’s wordless language.
“A lot of people relate to the fact that he doesn’t speak, or he has trouble speaking, or however they see it,” says Runton, who had personal reasons for preserving Owly’s speech patterns. He was a struggling reader growing up, and he has always wanted to write stories that all kids, no matter their ability, could understand. “It was really special to me to have that self-esteem boost built into the book, because that’s what I wanted as a kid.”
I love the thoughtfulness behind this decision and the inclusiveness of the Owly stories. The combination of dialogue, captions, images, and symbols make these books accessible to every reader. Younger kids can easily follow the story, and older ones will definitely grasp the underlying message.
At first, this one might seem like a tough read aloud. And I definitely wouldn’t suggest it if it’s five minutes until bedtime and you just want your kid ASLEEP ALREADY. But if you’ve got the time, reading Owly together is a great way to start a conversation about compassion, kindness, and stereotypes.
Recommended for ages 4-8
Knights vs. Dinosaurs (Knights vs. series, #1), by Matt Phelan (2018)
“When Sir Erec thought the whole thing over, he supposed that he shouldn’t have said that he’d slain forty dragons. Four might have been more realistic. He also shouldn’t have boasted in front of Merlin, the one person in court smart enough to know that fierce dragons were-more or less-a flagon of hooey….
… Dragons, trolls, and mythical beasts were in short supply. All the knights believed in them without question, of course, but the pesky beasts couldn’t exactly be counted upon to make an appearance. Ever.”
The famed Knights of the Round Table are bored, and Merlin is sick of listening to their ridiculous stories. When Sir Erec takes his exaggerations a bit too far, Merlin sends him on a time-traveling quest to slay “The Terrible Lizard.”
Joined by two other boastful knights, the mysteriously silent Black Knight, and “Mel” the squire, Sir Erec finds himself in a world teeming with dinosaurs. Amidst near-constant dinosaur battles, the knights learn surprising things about themselves and each other.
This hilarious book is a perfect read aloud or independent pick for younger middle grade readers. While my daughter isn’t usually into knights or dinosaurs, she loved the bumbling characters and the fact that (spoiler alert!) the strongest characters turn out to be female. My son was obsessed and has now read the next two books in the series, Knights vs. Monsters and Knights vs. The End (of Everything).
Author and illustrator Matt Phelan’s engaging artwork is on almost every page. Portraits, full-page spreads, and graphic novel-style panels add to the action and humor.
Recommended for ages 7-11
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Oooh, Owly! Requesting from the library right this minute (although I typically do not like reading aloud books without words, I will give these a try). Claire brought home the Knights vs. Dinosaurs book from the school library a few months ago and was too scared a few pages in to read it, but I bet Blythe would love this series. We'll try again! You had me at "When Sir Eric takes his exaggerations a bit too far" -- ha!