Why We Love... Owl Babies

In this series, Tickety Books editor Roman Milisic unpacks the secrets of great children's books.

There’s a color you absolutely mustn’t lean on in children’s picture books. Unless, that is, you are Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (Walker, 1992).

BLACK BLACK

The color I’m talking about is black black, which is all over the cover and the spreads of this hugely popular book, with over 10 million copies in print, even though it is almost unapproachable because of the depth of blackness.

You won’t find this black in other picture books. You’ll find midnight blue, charcoal, maybe black with neons. But just plain black doesn’t make for a comforting story time atmosphere. Especially paired with realistic illustrations--and Illustrator Patrick Benson really captured what an English forest can look and feel like after dark

ATTACHMENT THEORY FOR OWLS

Owl Babies is a story about Separation Anxiety: We begin high in the canopy of an old ivy-clad tree; then into its hollow trunk, where we meet Owl Mother and her owlets Sarah, Percy, and Bill. Who wake up one night and Mother is gone. Gulp.

Benson's wide-eyed baby owls are almost bioluminescent, and make the dramatic scenery even blacker--the only light in a forest full of seeming dangers. 

There they are, these three baby owls, dwarfed by night. 

SIBLING SUPPORT

The most poignant part for me is how the baby owls look after each other.  They come out of their house, and they sit, and they wait, wondering about their mother.

Sarah has to support her siblings with assurances that their mother will return. Behind her brave words, her tension is palpable. Percy understands that his job is to believe; while little Bill just keeps saying, `I want my mommy!''Each repetition lands harder While the other two kids try hard to rationalize, Bill expresses their true feelings.

They wait and they wish.

AND SHE CAME

And then comes the spread that everything hangs on  ‘AND SHE CAME.’ All caps. This abrupt line is all that a child needs to hear. Mom swooping home, so big and warm and her arms are so wide, ready to envelop the children. 

Brown has suddenly taken over as the dominant color in the image. This image is so powerful, its referenced by other great illustrators.

More brown and green open up the next page. The black is literally receding. Soft and silent she swoops. Silence suggests an unhurried confidence that is so reassuring but also magical. 

The delight of her owl babies is touching as we see them flap and dance on on their branch. Hooray! All is well. And look how the scene has moved to this heavenly blue.

A TODDLER HORROR FLICK

Why do kids love it? Because they get to live through the intense emotions that separation arouses safe in the arms of their caregiver. It’s like a toddler horror movie, with just the right amount of anxiety to deliver a satisfying relief.  

In short, you can’t use black unless you want to create discomfort.

PARENT-CHILD MISMATCH

A final thought. When mother owl returns, she wonders what all the fuss was about, But frankly her kids were left metaphorically and literally ‘in the dark’. For us parents, a brief absence may feel casual, but for little ones, it may feel like an existential threat. 

That mismatch may be Waddell's point. Owl Babies offers grown-ups a way to understand how it feels to be left—and its popularity suggests it succeeds.

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