WOW! Said the Owl

by Tim Hopgood

Everyone knows that owls are nocturnal but one curious little owl decides to take a long nap at night so she can stay awake during the day.

What she sees, from the warm, pink glow of dawn through to a day filled with the bright colours of green leaves, blue sky, grey clouds and, finally, a stunning rainbow, makes her exclaim 'WOW!'.

But despite the beauty of the daytime world, the little owl decides that the night-time stars are the most beautiful of all.

Simple text and an endearing character experiencing colour for the first time give an original slant to a first colours book.

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

This book was used over two sessions with the families that I work with to promote the use of books and stories to develop children's early language skills through play.

The overall learning goals using both books were:

To encourage sharing books and giving opportunities for exploring a variety of books
To introduce the Bookstart books and develop parents / carers confidence in using them by bringing the stories alive with the activities on offer
To encourage parents / carers to instill a love of books in their children

Bookstart research shows that an early start with books helps to develop motivation, concentration and attention that are all necessary for learning.

The story was shared with the families in the group. They all had a copy to follow the story and have a cuddle at the same time.

Making cosy nests

One of the main activities linked to the story for the families was making cosy spaces for them to share the book. We used a range of different textured materials, including cat baskets. These are perfect cosy spaces for children to sit in and made perfect nests.