To See an Owl
by Matthew Cordell; illus. by the author
Primary    Random House Studio/Random    40 pp.
1/25    9780593649893    $18.99
Library ed.  9780593649909    $21.99
e-book ed.  9780593649916    $8.99

This picture book’s front matter offers an immediate hook: “When will I find you?” Narrator Janie, a young birder with a particular affinity for owls, is searching a wintry wooded area; careful viewers will notice that she has just passed an owl camouflaged in a nearby evergreen tree, underscoring the elusive nature of these creatures. Janie reads about owls; draws illustrations of them; keeps an owl journal; makes a map of the places she’s looked; and eagerly seeks information from her teacher, a fellow birder. But she has never spotted one. Throughout the seasons, she and her mother silently walk the woods and visit the shore and even a cemetery, but no owls in sight. Cordell’s tranquil landscapes, rendered in pen and ink and soft watercolors, reinforce the character’s quiet determination as she continues her search. Her physical characteristics (particularly while bundled up in a puffer jacket, hat, and mittens, with binoculars) resemble those thrice ascribed to owls—“Perfectly stout. Large, round eyes. Silent, knowing faces”—giving a visual reinforcement to her connection to these “birds of the night.” Both compelling and informational, the story of Janie’s quest, like the experience of finally sighting a pair of owls, is “magic.”

From the January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.