Owl Moon

Owl Moon
	Owl Moon cover
Author	Jane Yolen
Illustrator	John Schoenherr
Cover artist	Schoenherr
Language	English
Genre	Children's picture book
Publisher	Philomel Books
Publication date	1987
Publication place	United States
ISBN	978-0-399-21457-8
OCLC	15198290
Dewey Decimal	[E] 19
LC Class	PZ7.Y78 Ow 1987

Owl Moon is a 1987 children's picture book written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by John Schoenherr. It won a number of awards, most notably the Caldecott Medal for its illustrations,^[1] and appeared on the public television series Reading Rainbow. It has been translated into more than a dozen foreign languages, including French, German, Chinese, and Korean. In 1989, Weston Woods Studios adapted the book into an animated film narrated by Yolen.

Yolen described the book as a positive family story, saying "It's about a girl and her father. Usually stories of a little girl are with her mother. It is gentle yet adventurous, quiet yet full of sound."^[2]

Plot

The story deals with a father who takes his child out owling for the first time on a cold winter night, during which they encounter a great horned owl. While the text does not specify the child's gender, the jacket flap copy refers to the characters as "a little girl and her father". According to Yolen's website, the child is actually Yolen's daughter Heidi. The "Pa" character is based on her husband, David, who was an avid outdoorsman and birdwatcher and to whom Yolen credits her awareness of nature.^[3]^[4]

References

^ American Library Association: Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present. URL accessed 27 May 2009.
^ "Interview with Jane, October 2007". Embracing the Child. October 2007. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
^ Yolen, Jane. "Owl Moon". Jane Yolen. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
^ "Jane Yolen". PBS Parents. PBS. Retrieved 2009-01-07.

External links

Yolen's Website for the book
"Top 100 Picture Books, #16". School Library Journal Blog. Retrieved 2012-05-20.

Awards
Preceded by Hey, Al	Caldecott Medal recipient 1988	Succeeded by Song and Dance Man

[ALA-1] American Library Association: Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present. URL accessed 27 May 2009.

[2] "Interview with Jane, October 2007". Embracing the Child. October 2007. Retrieved 2009-01-09.

[Owl-3] Yolen, Jane. "Owl Moon". Jane Yolen. Retrieved 6 March 2020.

[PBS1-4] "Jane Yolen". PBS Parents. PBS. Retrieved 2009-01-07.

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v t e Caldecott Medal–winning works
1938–1950	Animals of the Bible (1938) Mei Li (1939) Abraham Lincoln (1940) They Were Strong and Good (1941) Make Way for Ducklings (1942) The Little House (1943) Many Moons (1944) Prayer for a Child (1945) The Rooster Crows (1946) The Little Island (1947) White Snow, Bright Snow (1948) The Big Snow (1949) Song of the Swallows (1950)
1951–1975	The Egg Tree (1951) Finders Keepers (1952) The Biggest Bear (1953) Madeline's Rescue (1954) Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper (1955) Frog Went A-Courtin' (1956) A Tree Is Nice (1957) Time of Wonder (1958) Chanticleer and the Fox (1959) Nine Days to Christmas (1960) Baboushka and the Three Kings (1961) Once a Mouse (1962) The Snowy Day (1963) Where the Wild Things Are (1964) May I Bring a Friend? (1965) Always Room for One More (1966) Sam, Bangs & Moonshine (1967) Drummer Hoff (1968) The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (1969) Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1970) A Story, a Story (1971) One Fine Day (1972) The Funny Little Woman (1973) Duffy and the Devil (1974) Arrow to the Sun (1975)
1976–2000	Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1976) Ashanti to Zulu (1977) Noah's Ark (1978) The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses (1979) Ox-Cart Man (1980) Fables (1981) Jumanji (1982) Shadow (1983) The Glorious Flight (1984) Saint George and the Dragon (1985) The Polar Express (1986) Hey, Al (1987) Owl Moon (1988) Song and Dance Man (1989) Lon Po Po (1990) Black and White (1991) Tuesday (1992) Mirette on the High Wire (1993) Grandfather's Journey (1994) Smoky Night (1995) Officer Buckle and Gloria (1996) Golem (1997) Rapunzel (1998) Snowflake Bentley (1999) Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (2000)
2001–present	So You Want to Be President? (2001) The Three Pigs (2002) My Friend Rabbit (2003) The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2004) Kitten's First Full Moon (2005) The Hello, Goodbye Window (2006) Flotsam (2007) The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2008) The House in the Night (2009) The Lion & the Mouse (2010) A Sick Day for Amos McGee (2011) A Ball for Daisy (2012) This is Not My Hat (2013) Locomotive (2014) The Adventures of Beekle (2015) Finding Winnie (2016) Radiant Child (2017) Wolf in the Snow (2018) Hello Lighthouse (2019) The Undefeated (2020) We Are Water Protectors (2021) Watercress (2022) Hot Dog (2023) Big (2024)