Owl in the Office

Animal Ark [GB Order] #9

by Lucy Daniels

Un bébé chouette est tombé du nid. Cathy et James l'emmènent au Refuge des animaux où Betty, la responsable, leur annonce que ce lieu va devoir fermer faute de pouvoir payer le loyer et la nourriture des animaux. Que vont-ils donc devenir ? Cathy et James décident de réunir l'argent nécessaire pour sauver le refuge. Comment faire ? Le temps presse¿

Genres: Animals, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Juvenile

160 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 1997

About the author

Lucy Daniels is the collective name for the writing team that created the bestselling children's book series Animal Ark, many of the books are also published under the name of the series creator, Ben M. Baglio.

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a review of the American Scholastic edition.

Well -- what a disappointment. This is the worst of the Animal Ark books I've read so far. It's still a reasonably OK book with multiple problems that need solving, but I expect a book called Owl in the Office to be about AN OWL IN THE OFFICE. Maybe I'm unreasonable, but a book with an owl in the title and an owl on the cover makes me expect an owl-centric book.

That's not what we get here. The baby owl only appears in about 10 or 20 pages and is mentioned but not seen for a page or two at the end.



The bulk of the book describes the desperate antics of Mandy and James to put on a pet show to raise money for the local animal shelter. Why the rent was raised is never gone into, although there are some hints of conspiracy. I found it highly annoying to have a conspiracy hinted at and then dropped for cute antics with magpies, finding a place for the pet show and finding proper prizes.

So, what happened to the owl? I've got a feeling the publishers put out a long list of animal-friendly titles and assigned them to various ghostwriters. Sue Welford got the short straw with this one -- and got stroppy. Instead of writing about an owl being rescued, she rebelled by showing a whole animal shelter getting rescued. There's far more about dogs in here than about owls.

Which makes me wonder what were the titles that DIDN'T get written? Perhaps:

*Capybara in a Canoe
*Gazelle in the Gazebo
*Bedbugs in the Bed

and, of course,

* Weasels in the Wainscotting

The covers of the American editions continue to wrongly depict the central animal in the story. The owl pictured here is some random brown owl, while the baby owl fleetingly found inside the covers here is a tawny owl. The chicks are born white and go grey and then go brown and white.

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I hope the rest of the series isn't like this.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Western has raised a rent on the animal sanctuary. Mandy is worried what will happen to the animals that are there. She wants to save the animals, so she gets the idea to have a pet show. She will need to get a lot of money to save the sanctuary and the animals in it. Can she do it? Read this book to find out!
This book is great! I like it.

[Sammy]

I was completely obsessed with this series of books when I was a child and my aim was to read every single book. They are a really good children's series.

[A.R. Collins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alarm bells started to ring with this one when I noticed that the blurb on the back of my edition didn't even mention an owl! There is one in the book... briefly, but the story doesn't need him, and even seems to forget all about him until the final chapter, when a few characters sum up what has happened to him while Mandy and James were busy elsewhere (as well as attempting to tidy up a few other pointless, dangling story threads).

I would much rather have read a story in which the owl had a name (how appalling that any title animal doesn't!), Mandy saw him often and we were able to track his progress. Instead, I found myself reading a very weak yarn about fundraising for an animal sanctuary, which I don't think makes for an original or a compelling children's book (Jennings At Large already did it, for one, and not particularly well either!). Add to this more than one pet pronoun error, and then some annoying infantilising of Mandy, and this contribution to the series really has nothing to redeem it.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a book in this series 10 or 15 years ago and enjoyed it. I think that a dog may have been the focus. Now I'm making selections for my youngest niece. This book has very little about the owl; it's mainly about saving an animal shelter. Positive message. Good kids.

Lots of names. Many animals mentioned but the focus isn't on any one animal in particular.

Better title: Pets on Parade or Pets in the Park

[KPGINNY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mandy has rescued all kinds of animals but this is her toughest challenge yet. When Mandy finds an owl in a pile of leaves under a tree whilst she was out walking she takes it to Betty Hilder for help. Then she hears that Sam Western has shut down the animal sanctuary and knows she needs to do something to help Betty Hilder, the owner. This story was so good and I really enjoyed it.

- review written by my 9 year old

[Sue Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories
love the owls and always want to hear about people rescuing animals
highly recommend the series

[Violet · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sucks! It didn't hold my interest at all! Seriously, there were some parts I kept having to reread it because it was so boring there was one point in the book I just had to stop reading it. It's possible that book is just on a lower level than I read, because the words were too easy. But I still think it's a dumb book. 🥱🙄☹️😤

[Chase Panno · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this book, The Welford Animal Shelter, which houses homeless and hurt animals, may have to close down. Two friends, Mandy and James, who both love the shelter and spend a lot of time there, try to save the animal sanctuary by putting together a fundraiser when Sam Western raises the rent on the shelter. Mandy is a huge animal lover and will stop at nothing to save the animals and their home. With determination and hard work, Mandy and James host a successful pet show and raise the necessary funds to keep the shelter open.

I thought that Owl in the Office had a well thought out plot, but when it came to the details, it lacked descriptive words and feelings. While I was reading, I got bored because the setting and emotions were not explained thoroughly. Also, I am not a huge animal lover, but I do think someone who really likes them would enjoy this book. This is why I gave this book a 2 star rating. I think this book would be better for younger readers, possibly in second through fourth grade.

[Dean Deters]

Mandy and James found a baby owl in the woods and they took the owl to Mandy's parents who are veterinarians.They took the owl to the Sanctuary that their friend Betty ran.Betty told them that she was going to lose her sanctuary due to money .Mandy and James put together a pet show to raise money to save the sanctuary.


Mandy and James are very caring and would do anything to help.
It helped them and and they got more thoughtful during the story.


They raised enough money to save
The sanctuary.



You can make a lot happen by hard
Work and working together.



Yes I would recommend this book it was a good story
I think somone that likes animals would like this book.

[Sai Drishya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the book isn’t entirely about the Owl or ‘The Owl in the Office’. I quite liked the simplicity of the story and the premise.

It takes you back to simpler children stories, where sheer will and the goodness of the heart makes things happen. And also where stories happen in a small village where everyone knows everyone.

[Rea]

I really enjoyed this whole series as a child. Back then I'd devour each of the books as soon as I could get my hands on them.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads misplaced my review on this recently. Wish I could remember my thoughts on this book.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I realy enjoyed this book. Mandy is a great young girl andq her James are such lovly caecters in this book they saved the animal sanctuery. It is such a lovly story.

[Taylor Troncin]

Loved this series when I was younger. Still a huge animal lover and would like to read the rest of this series!