Review - Owl Love You

Owl Love You
by Matthew Heroux
illustrated by Wednesday Kirwan
Date: 2018
Publisher: Cameron
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

The sun is setting, time to rise! At dusk, when an owl’s day is just beginning, a baby owl asks questions and a mama owl offers comforting answers in this gentle, reverse bedtime book, featuring lulling, lyrical text and luminous illustrations of the nighttime world.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book just didn't work that well for me. I can see how it might appeal to some readers, but for me, the whole pun thing grated on my nerves and I just couldn't get past it.

The story is a rhyming back-and-forth between a young owl and its mother. I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the continual use of "hoo'll" instead of "who'll" and "owl" instead of "I'll". I can't help but be reminded of what happened when a particular Christmas movie came out and we ended up with a whole generation of kids who thought Santa Claus had an "e" on the end of his last name. If a parent is just going to be reading this book aloud to kids, it won't be a problem. But if kids are reading this book to themselves and don't understand that these particular words are spelled incorrectly for effect, then I'm afraid they'll start to think that that's how these words are actually spelled.

The illustrations left me with mixed feelings. Some are really cute and are quite striking with their nocturnal backgrounds. Others just seem dull and a little too cutesy.

Overall, I'm not sure that I'd recommend this one. Maybe with the caveat that it's best read aloud to kids who aren't yet old enough to absorb the intentional wrong spellings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cameron for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.71 out of 5