Andy Runton

Being a bird of prey is difficult when you just want to be friends with smaller birds and insects who view you as a scary predator. But things start looking up for Owly when a friendship is formed with Wormy and then their friend group is extended to two hummingbirds named Tiny and Angel. But can friendship weather all the ups and downs of the seasons? Read this book to find out!

This is an adorably sweet book that I'm sorry I slept on for so long. I saw it circulating among young readers in show more my library but had no particular strong feeling about reading it myself until I heard the author speaking on a library podcast. It became obvious that the author is a person with great empathy skills and sought to imbue the book series with those. I particularly loved that he explained how he decided to make Owly a character who uses only pictures to communicate and not words so that Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and other nonverbal children could see themselves represented in books.

The story of friendship is evergreen and there are actual facts about hummingbirds interspersed in the text, which I appreciated. The adventures of the friends are compelling, keeping the reader wanting to turn the pages to see what happens next. The book is broken up into two stories so there is a nice logical place to pause mid-way through, but it is short and sweet enough to be pretty much read in one sitting if you have a little bit of free time to do so.

The illustrations are quite charming, especially with Owly's wide eyes inviting the reader in. show less

Owly and Wormy want a garden that attracts butterflies, but they get caterpillars instead! They all make friends, but what will Owly and Wormy do when the caterpillars have to go away?
I love Owly SO MUCH. The new stories have words, but the older picture books and (sadly out of print) graphic novels are wordless, and the characters communicate in symbols and pictures (like a question mark or a picture of another character). They are great picks for students with dyslexia because they can show more "read" them without the need for words. Also they are SO. CUTE. show less

Owly's back, as adorable as ever. This volume is a little harder to follow than previous stories, if only because Runton is presenting more complicated ideas in his pictorial speech. It's hard to get across "You put up this cage and now I'm stuck and can't get what I want and I'm hurt so I'm mad at you" when you don't have any text to work with.

Even more than the friend-positive, help-others-even-if-they're-mean-to-you message, this book is about cute. Really, really cute. I mean it. Runton show more may as well give up on telling stories and just draw his forest animals over and over, and I'd still buy his books for the sheer joy of seeing Owly, Wormy, and the rest of the crew. show less

Owly is a young owl just looking to make a few friends. Unfortunately since he's an owl most of the other birds and insects are afraid of him! What's Owly to do? And then...one day he rescues a worm, Wormy, from a rain storm, nurses him back to health, and then offers to help him get back home to his parents. Owly carefully guards the young Wormy on their journey back to his home and his parents. In the second story Owly and Wormy once again team up to rescue and care for two young show more hummingbirds and the group soon becomes fast friends. But winter is coming and the hummingbirds can't survive for long in the cold. Owly and Wormy learn that sometimes being good friends, means saying goodbye for a while.

Owly is one of those deceptively simple books that has something for everyone. It's a complete wordless tale that relies on the reader to look closely at the illustrations to decipher the story being told. And what powerful stories they are. Although Andy is illustrating age old concepts (saying goodbye doesn't mean forever and don't judge by appearances) he puts a fresh twist on them that makes them enjoyable for all ages. You can't help but feel sad for Owly as he tries to make a friend, and rejoice when he's able to team up with Wormy. The illustrations are extremely important since there are no words and Andy does a masterful job of creating characters that are memorable, easy to identify, and enjoyable. The illustration are light, simple, and carefree and work well with the story. It's easy to figure out the characters expressions and know instantly how they're feeling. My one wish is that there would be more color to the illustrations, like on the front cover, but its a minor wish.

I look forward to future adventures of Owly, Wormy and friends and highly recommend this story to everyone. show less