Owl Babies

The Edible Book Festival has come to a close and the winners have been announced and....and...!

I didn't win. ah tarnation. ;)

It was a pretty much impossible task given the quality of the entries; all of the 74 were in with a shout frankly. The first prize went to an incredibly detailed and beautifully crafted version of Emily Gravett's 'The Odd Egg' with definite wow factor. Congratulations to all the prize winners; 'good bake' as Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood would say.

'Owl Babies' by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Patrick Benson  has always been a favourite in this house. Firstly owls are amongst my favourite and my best; who doesn't love an owl? This, extremely large in the stoneware flesh, one was always my first choice exhibit on regular childhood visits to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

And then one of the main characters in 'Owl Babies' is called Bill and, as we know from my last post, namesakes are always a good shortcut to garner popularity.

But 'Owl Babies' doesn't need any gimmicks to make it a lovely read...and probably doesn't need any introductions from me to you either. It's a quiet classic that has almost certainly found its way into your home already. A proper snuggle-down-and-listen bedtime story to soothe separation anxiety and give a great excuse for some extra mum cuddles.

Three baby owls wait for their mother to return from her night's hunting in a dark wood. As their bravado wanes and the wait seems longer, they huddle together for comfort. Sibling dynamics are beautifully observed from big sister superiority to little brother vulnerability but ultimately the family are united against whatever might  lurk in the darkness.

Mother owl returns; "and she came!", tension dissipates and cosy order is reinstated. The very gentlest of first scare stories for the under fives.

I decided to attempt the cover for the edible book festival partly on the basis that I couldn't find any intimidating versions of it online already and partly because I had a sudden inspiration that I could make them out of cupcakes. This had the advantage of not requiring to much engineering on my part and also we had a school cake sale coming that afternoon so I figured I could just sprinkle them with smarties and sell them anyway if it all went horribly wrong.

It turned out to be fun! My plan to use the orangey bit inside a jaffa cake to make the beaks didn't quite work out as planned but otherwise industrial quantites of buttercream icing hid a multitude of sins. I was particularly proud that the owls genuinely looked a bit scared when I had finished.

As well they might. Taking them to the school cake sale to be torn apart in a flurry of feathers by a hundred grabbing hands made me feel a bit queasy; enough to turn one into a vegecakeatarian.: 'Owl Babies- Version X Rated- When The Mother Didn't Come'...

The original

The cake tribute

'Owl Babies' by Martin Waddell, illus. Patrick Benson, pub. Walker isbn  978-0744531671

North and 14th February

Everyone's favourite date in the year is coming up on Tuesday. The one you look forward to and prepare for all year. The one that brings a spring to your step and a song to your heart. The one that's all about feeling and spreading Love Sweet Love around the planet. That's right. 14th February is International Book Giving Day. Hurray!

Think back to all the disappointing 14th Februaries you've had in your life prior to this one. I recall a weekend in Cromer with the husband where most people's Special Meal tables had been marked with a floating heart-shaped balloon. We had a nice time but my main memory is of the suppressed  fury and muttered complaints of the couple on the next door table who had been given a floating round balloon instead. Imagine how much more harmonious everyone would  have been if placements had  rather  been a lovely gift wrapped copy of say, 'Alfie's Big Out of Doors Storybook' or 'Dig Dig Digging' to enjoy? We wouldn't have had to chat or anything. Takes the pressure off doesn't it?

International Book Giving Day has been brought to my attention by Amy of Delightful Children's Books and Zoe of Playing by the Book and you will find full information of how to participate on their sites and on Facebook. It's about matching new and used quality children's books with a pair of hands eager to hold them, and it can be as simple as  gift wrapping a library book for your own child or as thorough as donating your outgrown library to a charity that can distribute them within the developing world.

I'm going to be marking it by donating today's book the beautiful 'North' by Nick Dowson, illustrated by Patrick Benson to the Year One classroom at my sons' school where I know it will benefit their 'animals' topic next term. I will also choose a couple of books to add to the Volunteer Reading Help box that I use at another school that will be appreciated by my just starting out readers there. Something 'cool' with a bit of suspense, a few visual jokes and not too many words. Suggestions please! (maybe now's the time for me to track down the much lauded 'I want my hat back')

A lovely book giving day illustration  to inspire me and you from Viv Schwartz.

'North- the greatest animal journey on earth' is going to be hard to part with. It's a gorgeous thing. Sublime illustrations by Patrick Benson of 'Owl Babies' fame tell the story of Arctic migration through the seasons. Grey whales are shown leaving a Mexican lagoon on their five thousand mile journey. Terns travel twice as far from the Antarctic. Caribou, walruses, wolves, herring, narwhal, snow geese and musk ox; all are lovingly rendered in the softest of watercolour, in a palatte that perfectly evokes the slow transformation from icy waste to flowering tundra.
Nick Dowson's text  is sparse but poetic, the marriage with the pictures a thoughtful song.

"It's summer in the Arctic. All day and night, the sun spreads light, warming soil and water.
Tundra flowers glow rainbow-bright, the calm air hums with with summer bees, and mosquitoes rise like smoke from shining pools.
NEW LIFE IS EVERYWHERE..."

A great gift for any 'Frozen Planet' fan, whatever their age.

'North' written Nick Dowson, illus. Patrick Benson, pub. Walker, isbn 978-1-84428-775-8