Felt Friday Special edition: Owls

This is a special Felt Friday because it is dedicated to Baby Girl G. Our second rezling baby is due next month, and her parents are decorating with owls in mind. Above is the gift bag that contained my present for the lovely Baby G; I made the felt owls (one on each side) myself, and they are sewn loosely on so they can be snipped off and incorporated into Baby's room.*

Owls! Owls and I go way back: back to Westmount Public Library days, in fact. Being the connoisseur of random WPL tour-guide-themed facts (seriously. Ask me about the flowers in the frieze in the Findlay Rooms. I dare you!), I can even tell you how the owl ended up in the centennial bookmark at right. You might think it is there because of the association of owls with wisdom (via the goddess Athena), and that's a good guess. There is, however, a real-life story about owls at WPL: during the 1995 renovations, the wonderful team behind the work discovered an owl living in a tree in what is now the reading garden; although his habitat was certainly displaced, shall we say, he coped, and he became an unwitting mascot. In the mid-2000s, a children's department logo was designed, using an owl as the central image.

The owl became a beloved symbol for staff, as well. I have wonderful memories of Ann's owl collection in her office, a tradition which the current director, Julie-Anne, has happily continued; I like that her owls are keeping an eye on things in the library (at left). Whenever I see owls, I think of my Westmount friends; I always want to buy owls for them!

The fabulous Lora (my fellow Digestive Librarians' Digest blogger) also has an impressive owl collection in her office at Westmount, to which I have contributed via the fabulous Workshop Boutique here in town). Look at them all chillaxin' there on top of her cabinet! I just want to hang out with them every time I visit, although that little dude at the bottom of the group there looks like he's too cool for me.

My bestie Caroline also has some impressive owls, including the felt one at left inherited from her grandpa (it used to live on his fridge).

Yeah, so, if this is a Felt Friday, I should offer some reading and singing recommendations... Here we go!

Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton (the author and illustrator is was named one of Time Magazine’s DESIGN 100 for his work for Fair Trade in 2007): Houghton blogs about the making of this book here (a fascinating look at owls in art!)

Over in the Hollow by Rebecca Dickinson: I love the somewhat complex melody of the song "Over in the meadow;" when you've mastered it, you can graduate to this Halloween-themed picture book featuring an owl family on a double-page spread, as well as a host of other Halloween characters...

WOW! said the Owl by Tim Hopgood: all about colours, as seen by yonder wide-eyed owl. Deliciously vibrant.

There is also the old favourite (and slightly scary for little folk) Owl Babies by Martin Waddell, and the classic Good Night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins.

To sing and rhyme:

There’s A Wide-Eyed Owl
There’s a wide-eyed owl
With a pointed nose,
He has pointed ears
And claws for toes.
He sits in a tree
And looks at you,
Then flaps his wings and says,
"Who... who... whooo!"

Little Owl (tune: This Old Man)
Little Owl, in the tree,
He is winking down at me.
With a wink, wink, wink, wink,
All through the night,
Little Owl is quite a sight!

Little Owl, in the tree,
He is hooting down at me.
With a hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot,
All through the night,
Little Owl is quite a sight!

Owls Are Sleeping (tune: Frère Jacques)
Owls are sleeping
Owls are sleeping
In their trees
In their trees
Soon it will be nighttime
Soon it will be nighttime
Wake up, owls (clap)
Wake up, owls (clap)

If you’re an owl and you know it
If you’re an owl and you know it, BLINK your eyes,
If you’re an owl and you know it, BLINK your eyes,
If you’re an owl and your know it ,
Than you really ought to show it
If you’re an owl and you know it, BLINK your eyes.

If you’re an owl and you know it, FLAP your wings....
If you’re an owl and you know it, Shout WHOO– HOO....

A final fun fact via The book of general ignorance (accurately skewered by the always-pithy John Crace, but nevertheless interesting... as Crace says, to geeks, anyway....):

"William Shakespeare first used the phrase 'tu-whit, tu-whoo' in his song, 'Winter,' from Love's Labour's Lost [...]. No single owl has ever gone 'tu-whit, tu-whoo.'Barn owls screech. Short-eared owls are largely silent. A long-eared owl makes an extended low pitched 'oo-oo-oo' noise. The owl noise that most resembles 'tu-whit, tu-whoo' is made by Tawny owls. Two of them. The male Tawny - also known as a Brown Owl - calls with a hooting 'hooo-hoo-hooo,' and the female replies with a hoarser 'kew-wick.'

Try that at storytime.


* Can I just say... really hard to take a pic of a hot pink bag with an orange felt. Yeah. That's all.