The Midnight Owl

Lily is frightened when the midnight owl hoots during the night. But Granny Small isn't afraid. She thinks the midnight owl sounds friendly. Will Lily always be afraid of him?

Lily is frightened when the midnight owl hoots during the night. But Granny isn't afraid. She thinks the midnight owl sounds friendly. Will Lily always be afraid of him?"-

A Caldecott Honor Winner and New York Times Bestseller! A determined Owl builds strength and confidence in this medieval picture book about the real mettle of a hero: wits, humor, and heart. Since the day he hatched, Owl dreamed of becoming a real knight. He may not be the biggest or the strongest, but his sharp nocturnal instincts can help protect the castle, especially since many knights have recently gone missing. While holding guard during Knight Night Watch, Owl is faced with the ultimate trial—a frightening intruder. It’s a daunting duel by any measure. But what Owl lacks in size, he makes up for in good ideas. Full of wordplay and optimism, this surprising display of bravery proves that cleverness (and friendship) can rule over brawn.

Anna Branford was born in the Isle of Man and spent her early childhood in Sudan and Papua New Guinea before moving to Australia. Creative writing was her favourite subject at school and she wrote stories in all these different countries. Anna is a doll maker and a sociology lecturer at Victoria University. Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot was her first published work for Walker Books Australia and was Honour Book in the 2011 Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards, Younger Readers category. In 2013, Violet Mackerel's Personal Space won the Young Readers/Picture Book Award category of the Australian Family Therapists' Award and was short-listed for the 2013 Children's Peace Literature Awards. Violet Mackerel's Possible Friend was short-listed for the 2014 CBCA Book of the Year Awards, Younger Readers category.

RITA Award for Best Young Adult Romance Feeling alive is always worth the risk... Meeting Jack on the Owl - San Francisco's night bus - turns Beatrix's world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive . . . and possibly one of San Francisco's most notorious graffiti artists. On midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is. But Jack is hiding much more - and can she uncover the truth that leaves him so wounded? A unique and profoundly moving novel, Night Owls will linger in your memory long after the final page. Praise for Night Owls “Take a contemporary San Francisco, add an undertone of classic Romeo and Juliet, some grit and viscera, and this story of two remarkable teens is the result…A thought-provoking exploration of art as an expression of love and pain.” Kirkus Reviews “An appealingly realistic romance that will curl toes and inspire sighs.” School Library Journal “Artsy, cool and everything you want a San Francisco adventure to be. Get ready to be swept away.” Maximum Pop “Fans of contemporary YA are sure to be won over with this compelling read.” Buzzfeed “Fresh, original, touching, addictive, beautiful, and crammed cover to cover with the white-hot intensity of first love.” Ann Aguirre, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of the Razorland trilogy “If we could order up our dream young adult love story, it would look very much like Night Owls.”—iBooks’ Editors (one of iBooks UK Best Books of the Month for August 2015, iBooks US Best Books of the Month November 2015)

Small animals disappear and strange noises fill the night as Mother and Father Screech Owl raise their five owlets who need more and more food.

Now a major film! New York Times bestselling author and “one of America’s top cultural critics” (Entertainment Weekly) Chuck Klosterman’s debut novel brilliantly captures the charm and dread of small-town life. Somewhere in rural North Dakota, there is a fictional town called Owl. They don’t have cable. They don’t really have pop culture, but they do have grain prices and alcoholism. People work hard and then they die. But that’s not nearly as awful as it sounds; in fact, sometimes it’s perfect. Mitch Hrlicka lives in Owl. He plays high school football and worries about his weirdness, or lack thereof. Julia Rabia just moved to Owl. A history teacher, she gets free booze and falls in love with a self-loathing bison farmer. Widower and local conversationalist Horace Jones has resided in Owl for seventy-three years. They all know each other completely, except that they’ve never met. But when a deadly blizzard—based on an actual storm that occurred in 1984—hits the area, their lives are derailed in unexpected and powerful ways. An unpretentious, darkly comedic story of how it feels to exist in a community where local mythology and violent reality are pretty much the same thing, Downtown Owl is “a satisfying character study and strikes a perfect balance between the funny and the profound” (Publishers Weekly).

How is Owl supposed to sleep the day away with the bees buzzing, the woodpecker pecking, the doves cooing, and the squirrels crunching? But when night falls and everything is finally quiet, suddenly there's a new sound--and it's coming from Owl!