One Odd Old Owl

by Paul S. Adshead

In the Forest of Nod, a snail is rudely awaken by an Odd Old Owl's snoring. She attempts to rally all the birds who come by her tree in increasingly large numbers to help her wake the owl so she can catch a few zee's. They clitter-clatter, shout, shriek, screech, squawk, whir, sing, quack, knock, hammer, chirp, chirrup and cheep..." But One Odd Old Owl continues to sleep." Finally comes a "Princely Peacock" whose "deafening fanfare gets rid of that Odd Old Owl all right "But before that poor Snail can doze off to bed, fifty-five birds start snoring instead!"

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Animals, Birds

28 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1993

Reviews

[Edie Walls · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's no Puzzle Island, but this is another fun puzzle book from the same author.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of big bird names. Each page builds on and repeats the last. Read at church Sunday.

[Sarah Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as Puzzle Island but still super fun.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations. Cumulative, repetitive text that often appeals to children. Counting. Humorous ending.

[Alicia Rotter · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Odd Owl is sleeping very loudly in his tree. This loud snoring disrupts the snail, and brings him to call on his bird friends to help wake up Owl. This fun book has a lot more to offer than just reading, and offers a fun and engaging children's book.

The language and text used in the book is very poetic. The author uses rhyming to create a flow to the words while you read them. While the words were well written, I felt the text was a bit advanced for children. A child might not be able to relate to the text as much due to the large words rather often throughout the whole text. However, the text was really fun to read and when read allowed really adds an upbeat tone and peppiness to the book.

The best part of this book is the illustrations. The illustrator, who is also the author, uses wonderful colors that are warm and inviting to the eyes. Not only are the colors perfectly picked out, the illustrator adds so much detail to the book, that every time you read it there is something new to discover. Such as that on the top left hand page there is a feather that matches the new bird introduced to help wake up Owl. When looking more closely at the illustrations, you can find different types of birds hidden within the picture, and it takes some focus to notice that they are. This really adds for children to be a part of the book and this why I find this book genius.

Something else I found really interesting about the book, is the activity section provided at the end of the book. Clever words lead the children in a sort of hide and seek adventure to go through. Hidden throughout the book as well are letters, and different pictures that help answer riddles asked on the activity pages. I thought this was much different from all of the picture books I have been used to reading. I really enjoy that this offers an engaging factor for the children. For kids who do not like to read, this is an amazing book to start with. Honestly, if you simply do the activity section of the book you still get a feel for the story line and the illustrations are so much more important, I feel, than reading the actual text. I would highly recommend this book to be in any classroom that has beginning readers, or readers do not find enjoying to simply sit down and read a book.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe this isn't listed by more people! I fully expected to see a page full of reviews and ratings and only one other person has it listed (with no review/rating?)
I'll come clean though, the last half of the story is sooooo tedious to read. The only thing that saved it is the humor. If you're anything like us you'll laugh while reading it... over and over and over and over. It's like the song, The 12 Days of Christmas, just not about Christmas. And with animals.
What makes this book stand out is the illustrations which are done by the author. At the end of the book is a poem by the snail in the story. The snail leaves a puzzle for the reader to figure and fill out to receive his message.
Beyond this there are letters and pictures of birds hidden inside the illustrations and believe me, a lot of them are hidden well. I still haven't found them all and it's addictive. If you read the story without knowing this little fact, like we did, you'll never see them. We had to actively look once we read the snail's poem.
The back cover of the book has birds feathers and the name of the bird along with the scientific name for kids to look at and identify.
It's really a good book and I'm surprised more haven't heard of it. If you find it give it a shot - at the very least you'll laugh almost the whole way through.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story about a snail who cannot sleep due to an snoring owl. The snail enlists the help of other birds to try to waken the owl. The story is written many poetic techniques like rhyme and repetition, and each new bird adds a sometimes comical aspect with its rhyme. It is beautifully illustrated, with hidden pictures on each page, and a challenging riddle to solve at the end.

I have fond memories of reading this book as a school aged child. Luckily my mother kept it and gifted it to my preschool aged children. They LOVE reading it and regularly choose it for a bedtime story. They find the story funny and love looking for the hidden pictures on each page. I love that it reinforces counting, and introduces vocabulary that’s not always seen in children’s books (like “quintet” and “harmoniously”). They are a little too young for the end puzzle but I have no doubt they will work on it on a few years.

[Tina Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of our favorites. We have been rereading it for years. It's a great book to go to sleep by.
You will need to look at the illustrations over 100 times to notice everything in them. I think we are still finding things.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is clever! All the rhymes are nicely done, and hard to read, but fun! Written in the style of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Read it at bedtime, so didn't get to examine the illustrations, but we look forward to playing the games with her when she gets older.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our household consisting of:
x2 honours maths & comp sci students
x1 dean's listed int'l dev & communications student
finally solved the riddle in the back of this book after 3 months.
We're very unabashedly proud.
Also, the rhyming scheme slaps.

[Mackenzie McFarlane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the colours, love all the beautiful feathers! I like that there is a puzzle in it too.