Late one winter night a little girl and her father go owling.
The trees stand still as statues and the world is silent as a
dream.Whoo.whoo-whoo, the father calls to themysterious nighttime
bird.
But there is no answer.
Wordlessly the two companions walk along, for when you go owling
you don''t need words. You don''t need anything but hope. Sometimes
there isn''t an owl, but sometimes there is.
Distinguished author Jane Yolen has cre-ated a gentle, poetic story
that lovingly depicts the special companionship of a young child
and her father as well as human-kind''s close relationship to the
natural world. Wonderfully complemented by award-winning John
Schoenherr''s soft, exquisite
watercolor illustrations, this is a verbal and visual treasure,
perfect for reading aloud and
sharing at bedtime.
一个冬天的晚上,我跟爸爸去看猫头鹰,这一天我已经盼望好久好久了。
月光耀眼,但天很冷,林子里很黑,我一句抱怨的话也没有,我知道我要去看猫头鹰,一定要冷静,一定要安静,一定要坚强,一定要勇敢。
我们来到了林子中央的一片空地,月光照亮了地面。
爸爸大声地呼唤起来:呼!呼呼呼!呼!
有回应的声音穿过树丛,一只猫头鹰的影子费了过来。爸爸用手电筒照亮了落到树上的猫头鹰,我们和那只猫头鹰你看我,我看你,知道它无声无息地飞走了。
月光下,我们回家了。
她曾先后担任过儿童书画家协会会长、美国科幻作家协会会长,被美国《新闻周刊》誉为“美国的安徒生”和“20世纪的伊索”。她的儿童书代表作Emperor
and The Kite获得1968年凯迪克银奖。而本书为她赢得1988年凯迪克金奖。她说:“我只讲值得讲的故事''''。
JANE YOLEN, Philomel author of Touch Magic and Neptune Rising,
is one of today''s most versatile and distinguished writers of books
for young readers, acclaimed for her poetry, humorous fiction,
fantasy and folk tales, and novels for young adults.
Owl Moon has been a particular pleasure for her to write, since her
husband, David Stemple, frequently went owling on winter nights
with their three children, Heidi,Adam, and Jason, near their rural
Massa-chusetts home with the same anticipation and excitement as
the characters in this story.
Owling is a familiar pastime to natural-ist-writer JOHN SCHOENHERR
as well.Renowned illustrator of over forty books,including the
classic Rascal, Julie of the Wolves, Gentle Ben, and Dune,
Schoenherr was educated at the Art Students League and Pratt
Institute. In recent years he has primarily painted and has been
featured in galleries across the country.
Schoenherr was enticed back to illustrat-ing a children''s book by
the story Owl Moon,which reminded him of his own nighttime walks
with his children, Jennifer and Ian. Indeed, the farm featured in
Owl Moon is the Schoenherr farm, and the shadowed trees and trails
are landmarks past which he and his family trudged on winter nights
searching for the magnificent and elusive owl.