Otto the Owl Who Loved Poetry
Written and illustrated by Vern Kousky
Children will love Otto’s great big eyes as he looks straight at them from his perch on the crescent moon. Otto doesn’t like to roost in trees or hunt at night like the other owls. So the others all make fun of him. He likes to read books, make friends and recite poetry.
When the other owls continue to tease him, Otto decides to run away. On his way, he sees the moon and makes up his own poem about the moon. What he doesn’t realize is that there were dozens of mice listening to him recite the poem. When he finished they all cried, “More, more!”
What Otto, and eventually the other owls, learn is that poetry is to be shared aloud with others to be best enjoyed.
First grade readers being introduced to poetry will enjoy hearing this read aloud and becoming able to read it themselves. The contrasting colors of art work make it a stunning book with font that is clear and easy to read.
This book can be used to meet the common core standards of literacy in the areas of poetry as well as discriminating between fact and fiction.
The fact that the owls pick on Otto for being different can open a discussion between parents, teachers or librarians and children about how we treat one another. It is also an interesting twist to realize that the part of Otto that is different, his love of poetry, becomes understandable to all the other owls by the end of the book. It is a very good thing that Otto didn’t run away, but stayed long enough to share his poetry with the others.
This beautifully well done book is Vern Kousky’s first, but hopefully not his last.
Title: Otto the Owl Who Loved Poetry- Author/Illustrator: Vern Kousky
- Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, 2015
- Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
- Format: Hardcover, 32 pages
- ISBN: 978-0-399-16440-8
- Genre: Poetry
- Grade level: K to 3
- Extras: The famous poem excerpts are included in the back of the book along with their citations.