Christopher Denise

A little owl wants to be a big strong knight, and gets his chance when many knights disappear and more need to be recruited. He struggles to be big and strong and stay awake during the day, so he’s placed on the knight night watch. There he runs into a hungry dragon who wants to eat knights. Unless, that is, owl can offer the dragon something better - pizza!

Very cute story. I loved that the owl didn’t need to change, he was helpful and saved the day and made friends just by being show more himself. The story seems very serious until the pizza gets involved in a perfect full-page reveal. Great decision with the illustration, along with the fact that the owl is so smol and the knights are so big and we never see their faces. Who ever bought this for my niece has great taste (it was me, I bought it). show less

Knight Owl by Christopher Denise is my favorite recently published picture storybook. Your heart feels full the entire time you read this story and it is easily one of the most entertaining and thought provoking books to read allowed to children. This story challenges all the stereotypes of what it means to be strong and brave and brings a new perspective to how you can be all those things while still being small. This book would be great to read in a group and discuss. The illustrations show more enhance the whole experience by giving a beautiful visual that relates so closely to the story. The pictures are beautiful and really make you look through the entire page and immerse you in the narrative. show less

The eager new recruit for the Knight Night Watch is a little bird that talks too much and prefers to be awake during the day. Early Bird is annoying and creates a dangerous situation for Owl, but still manages to become something tolerable by the end.

It's not as cute as the first book, but a fine follow-up all the same.

Cute, but. I'm tired of knights. I'm tired solutions that don't make sense. And, honestly, even when I was a little kid the idea of a dragon being satisfied with pizza would have made me sigh and want to dis-recommend the book to everyone.
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Reread with special attention to the art because I learned that it was honored by the Caldecott committee. And yes, ok, the art is pretty darn wonderful. And the point is not so much that pizza solves the dragon's hunger, but that friendship means he'll show more find something else to eat. So, yes, I have to increase my rating. Still, my previous eval. is not wrong. show less