Too many nights we have read “Goodnight Moon” and “Where the Wild Things Are” and it gets pretty boring.
I have been reading these books to my children since they were inside my belly and have practically memorized them and can recite the texts in my sleep.
But the world of children’s literature is an unlimites paradise of printed books and on July 16 — from a box fresh from the US sent by Miss Lisa Eslao, the sister-in-law of Tita Loy Alix — was a gem of a book that I have been reading to my children before bedtime for week now.
Meet “Wow! Said that Owl,” a book about colors written by Tim Hopgood. Hopgood wrote this so smoothly that I feel like I’m biting into a slice of tiramisu every turn of the page. As an adult who read children’s storybooks, Wow! Said the Owl is a relaxing read that unknowingly ushers you into a calm mood. You read each page with ease and you slow down to savor every word.
I love this book so much I used it in the July 19 Toddler Storytime for our one-hour lesson on colors.
I adore how the scene changes in every turn of the page as the owl discovers that mornings are filled with all sorts of wonderful colors that it did not see from sleeping when the sun is up. But its loyalty is in the night sky and the familiar sparkles it sees glowing in the dark.
I wish I could write a storybook as calming as Wow! Said the Owl.
Perhaps one day when the house has settled down a bit from the circus — otherwise known as Nick, Toni and JJ — that chose to reside in this side of town.
