... One of my favourites that I particularly remember was this book – The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson. I ended up owning a copy, but it disappeared over the years and I don’t know what happened to it.
But I bought a copy of it for my own kids in 1998 and that ... Read review
Plop the Baby Barn Owl is like every Barn Owl there ever was except for one thing - he ... more
is afraid of the dark. "Dark is nasty" he says and so he won't go hunting with his parents. Mrs Barn Owl sends him down from his nest-hole to ask about the dark and he meets a little boy waiting for the fireworks to begin an old lady a scout out camping a girl who tells him about Father Christmas a man with a telescope and a black cat who takes him exploring. He realizes that through these encounters that dark is super after all.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Plop the Baby Barn Owl is like every Barn Owl there ever was except for one thing--he ... more
is afraid of the dark. "Dark is nasty" he says and so he won't go hunting with his parents. Mrs. Barn Owl sends him down from his nest-hole to ask about the dark and he meets a little boy waiting for the fireworks to begin an old lady a scout out camping a girl who tells him about Father Christmas a man with a telescope and a black cat who takes him exploring. He realizes that through these encounters that dark is super after all.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Advantages: Charming story, easy to relate to, educational too Disadvantages: None
...Your Kisses For Me by the Brotherhood of Man and Don’t Give Up On Us Baby by the afore-mentioned David Soul.
At the end of the day, Mrs. Hoyes used to read us a few pages of a book. One of my favourites that I particularly remember was this book – The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson. I ended up owning a copy, but it disappeared over the years and I don’t know what happened to it.
... ...unlike a well-loved bear – the wear and tear is showing. Its creased cover and curled pages are a sign of success. This book has been read and re-read, hidden under the duvet for late night reading in semi-darkness, hidden under the pillow til morning.
I decided to recapture some of that 1970s spirit and read it myself – not to the kids, but to me. I know I used to love it as a child, but would it still appeal to a thirty-something ... more
Well, another Lush opinion was posted, so another promise must be kept. After my previous request for opinion suggestions for non-Lush products (LOL), one I received was from Jill Murphy who asked me to write a book review. I have written several before, but not for a while and as I know Jill loves children’s’ books, I thought I’d pick one of those. Here it is.
Back in 1976-77, I was in Mrs. Hoyes’ class at school. I wanted to be a Charlie’s Angel, I was in love with David Soul and my favourite songs were Lost In France by Bonnie Tyler, Save Your Kisses For Me by the Brotherhood of Man and Don’t Give Up On Us Baby by the afore-mentioned David Soul.
At the end of the day, Mrs. Hoyes used to read us a few pages of a book. One of my favourites that I particularly remember was this book – The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson. I ended up owning a copy, but it disappeared over the years and I don’t know what happened to it.
But I bought a copy of it for my own kids in 1998 and that copy still exists on a bookshelf – although it is, by now, a well-loved book and – not unlike a well-loved bear – the wear and tear is showing. Its creased cover and curled pages are a sign of success. This book has been read and re-read, hidden under the duvet for late night reading in semi-darkness, hidden under the pillow til morning.
I decided to recapture some of that 1970s spirit and read it myself – not to the kids, but to me. I know I used to love it as a child, but would it still appeal to a thirty-something woman in the same way?
The cover is still as cute and lovely as I remember it. This one is a paler blue than I remember my old book being though and it sows our hero Plop the owl falling through the sky. I seem to recall my old copy had him sitting on a tree with a backdrop of stars – but who knows, age changes things and distorts memories. Anyway, this is a cover to make kids and adults alike go “AWWWWWW!”
This edition is a 96-page paperback. The story was originally published in 1968, but is still just as popular and unlike some other books and authors (Enid Blyton, Milly Molly Mandy, My Naughty Little Sister), this one hasn’t aged at all. There are no anachronisms to explain away, no sexist stereotypes, no chimney sweeps or shillings.
As you might have guessed from the title, the story is about an owl who is afraid of the dark and of course, that’s a bit silly because owls are nocturnal. So Plop – that’s the name of the phobic owl – has to be taught by his parents that night isn’t actually very scary, so he can become a proper owl and do what his kind are supposed to.
One of the general messages of the book is that “ignorance breeds fear” and Plop overcomes his problems by learning alternate ways of viewing the dark. Instead of seeing it as black, unforgiving and terrifying, he comes to understand the dark can be other things, good things. This is an ideal book to read to children aged between about four and eight years old who suffer from various fears, including the common one the book is about.
The book’s format is ideal to read to children at bedtime too, as it is split into seven chapters (one for each day of the week!), each one discovering a new positive thing about the dark. There are no scary bits, no cliff-hangers to keep your child awake, nothing to give them nightmares.
The book is peppered with cute, simple line drawings by Susan Hellard, which kids will love to look at (although I’m not too sure about the picture on page 69, where Daddy Owl is about to feed a cute little shrew to his son!). These are mostly animal based and besides the owls, there are drawings of other creatures too, all of which are pretty accurate too. Although the animals in the book talk and are understood, you won’t find them dressing up in dresses and nipping to the shop for a pie tin.
The level of information in this book is actually quite high, but it is written in a way that children will not realise that they are learning a few things too. You discover what owls eat and how they hunt it, how and when they sleep, where they live, how they fly and so on. There are also some interesting bits about badgers, hedgehogs and bats in one chapter.
Plop is, of course, the star of the piece. Children will definitely relate to him. He is young, can’t quite manage to do everything he wants to do and although he tries hard, he often makes mistakes and gets a bit embarrassed about them. He is also comical and very endearing.
The story is a simple one and easy to follow, but it isn’t “dumbed down” and adults won’t find it boring to read out loud – well, not for the first few times anyway ;-) The chapters are also long enough so your child doesn’t feel short-changed, but short enough for you to fit nicely into that gap between your child’s teeth cleaning and the next exciting episode of EastEnders.
I also like the way Plop’s parents are described in the book. They provide the security and reassurance that their son needs to overcome his phobia, while persuading him to take little steps to solve the problem and encouraging him to be a bit more independent and help himself. They never do all the work and they also don’t dismiss his fears or tell him to “get over them!”
But Mr. And Mrs. Barn Owl (yes, owls get married too, apparently) also display some characteristics that we as parents can identify with too. Little Plop regularly interrupts their sleep and although they are nice and polite about it, you can tell they are getting just slightly agitated and really do need a bit longer peace. I certainly know how they feel.
Plop also seems to have a bottomless pit when it comes to hunger – another common trait amongst children and something to make us parents sigh deeply. But you can tell his parents love him, care about him and want the best for him.
In each chapter, Plop goes off on his own and has a little adventure. He meets an old lady, a Boy Scout, a little girl, a cat and a man with a telescope. He learns about fireworks brightening up the night sky, the different colours of night that depend on the weather and the seasons, the enlightening world of star-gazing, the fun of singing songs round a camp-fire and the joy of Father Christmas’ annual visit. He finds out that the dark isn’t frightening, it’s EXCITING, KIND, FUN, NECESSARY, FASCINATING, WONDERFUL and BEAUTIFUL.
I haven’t spoiled anything by writing so much. After all, you knew it was going to have a happy ending, didn’t you? I mean, if Plop had plunged to his death from the highest branch it would have been written by Aesop or Roald Dahl. The beauty of this book isn’t the ending, it’s the story itself. You want to know what happens and what Plop does.
The beauty is in the illustrations that you need to see, the clever combinations of words that need to be read out loud. The beauty is in that wide-eyed wonderment belonging to your child, as they snuggle up in their duvet and listen to each word open-mouthed.
I’d better sneak the book back onto their shelf now, before they notice it was missing.
...buy dozens and not break the bank. One of my latest purchases for the princely sum of 10p is the owl who was afraid of the dark by Jill Tomlinson.
The story.
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The story is about plop a baby barn owl who is just like any other barn owl expect that he is scared of the dark. Plops mother suggests that he asks a little boy on the ground about the dark. Plop flies down and lands with a somersault. The boy tells Plop that dark is exciting especially ... ...of the fireworks but is still not convinced about the dark.
The next day mother owl suggests that plop asks an old lady in a deckchair about the dark. The old lady tells Plop that the dark is kind and allows her to sit and remember all the good times in her life. Plop remains unconvinced.
Next Plop visits a little girl who tells Plop dark is necessary to allow Father Christmas to come. Plop doesn't have a stocking to hang up and there is a charming ...
anwar 13.10.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark - Jill Tomlinson
Advantages: Features a cute baby owl named Plop. Disadvantages: None really.
...late infants early juniors. The story is based around a cute baby owl who is afraid of the dark. He sets out to find out why he shouldn`t be scared and ends up saying that it is super. The Book.
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The book is entitled `The Owl who was afraid of the Dark` and is by Jill Tomlinson. It is a paperback book though the cover is slightly stiff, costing £5.99. The book is illustrated by Paul Howard and as quoted by Practical Parenting it ... ...are lovely, not only of the featured owls, but the things that Plop speaks to and the night sky. The drawings are all a bit on the dark side as the story is based around the night, the colours are still lovely though, but not bright as a lot of children`s books are. Each page has writing and one or two illustrations. The Story.
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The story basically is covneying that there is no need to be afraid of the dark for no reason. There are ...
spottydog2 11.03.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark - Jill Tomlinson
Advantages: A lovely story. Great for stopping kid's from being scared of the dark. Disadvantages: None what-so-ever!
Plop, the Baby Barn Owl, is like every Barn Owl there ever was, except for one thing - he is afraid of the dark. This story is a tale about a baby barn owl on his discovery of the weird and wonderful goings on during the night.
His parents are kept up half the day when they're trying to sleep, by Plop who just can't settle down. Mr and Mrs barn owl try their hardest to make Plop explore the night time by sending him out of there nest hole to talk ... ...him their reason for liking the dark:
1. Dark is exciting
2. Dark is kind, 3. Dark is fun
4. Dark is necessary
5. Dark is fascinating
6. Dark is wonderful 7. Dark is beautiful
He meets an old lady, a man with a telescope, a wandering cat, a girl who says - dark is exciting because thats when father christmas comes out.
When Plop meets the boy scout, he attempts to fly out of his nest-hole. His inexperienced baby barn owl wings struggle and ...
Becs129 28.09.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark - Jill Tomlinson
The owl who is afraid of the dark i about a little owl called plop who is very frightened of the dark but as we all know owls are nocturnal and only hunt in the dark. Plops mom told him there was nothing to be frightened of and before he should make a judgement about something he should find out more about the dark so plop did. Plop spoke to people and animals to see what they thought of the dark and they told him some wanderful storys about the ... ...little girl and all about the stars. Plop learns that there is nothing to be scared of about the dark and decides he will become a night owl after all. This book is great for children up to about 7 years of age, it is a lovely story and has great pictures to go with the story, this is a great reasuring book for any child who may be scared of the dark and a brilliant bed time read, i remember this book from when i was young and now my daughters love ...
danniell 27.06.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark - Jill Tomlinson
Advantages: Simple, effective way of teaching children fictional writing. Disadvantages: None.
...by a truly great author. The children in my class thoroughly enjoyed the novel. It sparked their imagination which, in turn, helped the children produced some wonderful work and short stories which are worthy of any childrens writing at the moment. Nearly every child in my class went out during the term to buy the whole set of books. I have also produced a set of worksheets that go with the novel as we have decided as a school that we will use Jill ... ...to spark the imagination of our children.
The novels by Jill Tomlinson are accesible for every level within the classroom and it makes every child feel as they can contribute something to every lesson. In my special needs group, this has had a fantastic result as their reading scores and overall levels have increased dramatically and they don't seem to be daunted by the writing process as the books follow a lovely pattern in which everyone can access ...
richardmark76 28.07.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark - Jill Tomlinson
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Advantages: sweet, classic, cat-based story of hope Disadvantages: a little quaint, with some less-than-fascinating characters
of the English used is quite unusual, akin perhaps to that perennial Key Stage 1 (that's Year 1 and 2 in school) favourite, JillTomlinson's The OwlWhoWasAfraid of the Dark (indeed, Gobbolino is not unlike Plop, although somewhat more annoyingly virtuous!). It is not a long book, about 150 pages of large print, but there are some longer and more complex sentences, with slightly formal structure, so that whilst reading the words might not be too difficult for an able child, comprehension might be a tad laboured. For example: "Presently he could distinguish four grey horses driven at a furious speed..." That's not a sentence I could imagine every child at the age to which I feel this is pitched, around 6 or 7, being able to read for themselves. However, this is a pleasure to read aloud, and of course if you read it to your child or your class ...
Plop, the Baby Barn Owl, is like every Barn Owl there ever was, except for one thing - he is afraid of the dark. "Dark is nasty" he says and so he won't go hunting with his parents. Mrs Barn Owl sends him down from his nest-hole to ask about the dark and he meets a little boy waiting for the fireworks to begin, an old lady, a scout out camping, a girl who tells him about Father Christmas, a man with a telescope and a black cat who takes him exploring. He realizes that through these encounters that dark is super after all.
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