Waiting for the Owl's Call

A young girl named Zulviya, part of the Turkoman community of Afghanistan, narrates this story of her family's involvement in the rug-making industry, and her own long day at the loom, waiting for the owl's call that signals the end of work. Waking with the muezzin's call to prayer, and working until her fingers bleed, Zulviya sits between her cousin Aghabil and her sister Aqbika, where she holds two patterns in her mind: the pattern of the rug taking shape before her, and her own internal pattern, which weaves together the beauty of the world around her, and her own thoughts and dreams. After an evening celebration in honor of a bakshy, or traveling musician, eight-year-old Zulviya falls exhausted into her bed, to dream of a pattern in show more which there is no loom to cast its shadow over her...

The Turkoman, or Turkmen people, are the majority ethnicity in the country of Turkmenistan, but also have populations in Afghanistan, Iran and other parts of Central Asia. They should not be confused with the Turkoman people of northern Iraq, who are linguistically distinct from the Oghuz Turks (Turkmen). Given that there is potential for this kind of confusion, especially amongst young readers who might be unfamiliar with the region, and given that this is part of a series (Tales of the World) intended to introduce American children to their counterparts around the world, I was particularly disappointed to note that, although Gloria Whelan did include an afterward about the rug industry, and the use of child labor, she did not include any information about the Turkoman people.

Leaving that issue aside, I greatly enjoyed Waiting for the Owl's Call, which offers a very gentle introduction to a sobering reality: the use and abuse of child labor in rug weaving. I liked that the narrative focused on Zulviya, and her thoughts and feelings. I liked that her parents and community are not made out to be the "bad guys," and that the narrative hints that both adults and children are aware that the girls should be in school, but that other (unstated) factors, like poverty, have prevented it. Finally, I simply adored the artwork by Pascal Milelli, with its lovely impressionistic quality! I think the illustrations really bumped this from a three to a four-star rating, and I will definitely be looking for his forthcoming title, Seal Song! show less

A poignant story of an eight-year-old girl and her sister in Afghanistan who, instead of attending school, weave rugs until their ngers bleed and await the call of the owl telling them their day of labor is over.

This is a story about an 8 year old girl living in Afghanistan who does not get to go to school because she spends her time weaving rugs on a loom to help support her family. She dreams of all the colors she would weave in her own rug to express the beautiful things around her. She has a positive outlook on life even though her fingers bleed from the thousands of knots she must tie in one day. She keeps a pattern in her head that is all her own and when she dreams at night she thinks about this pattern and not the one she is forced to make on the loom.

Zulviya is a rug weaver just like all the other women in her family. She does not know what school is, but while she weaves she lets her imagination weave a beautiful tapestry all her own.

reviewed