Knight Owl

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Synopsis

Since the day he hatched, Owl has dreamed of becoming a knight. He's surprised when he's accepted to knight school, but with him not being the biggest or strongest, it's a challenge for him. Through hard work, though, he successfully graduates and his nocturnal instincts make him the perfect candidate for Knight Night Watch. While keeping watch, Owl is faced with a frightening intruder much bigger than himself. But what he lacks in size, Owl makes up for in bravery and wit.

Review

Knight Owl is the first book in Christopher Denise's children's book series, The Knight Owl. Since he hatched, little Owl has dreamed of just one thing, becoming a knight. When knights start disappearing from the castle, Owl applies to knight school. He's accepted and in spite of some difficulties, he works hard to successfully become a knight. Since he's nocturnal, he's the perfect one to keep watch after dark, but one night, a frightening intruder arrives. The little owl must be brave and use his wits to make friends instead of enemies.

I can't recall where I first heard about Knight Owl, but it has made appearances on many recent best children's book lists as well as being named a Caldecott Honor Book. I remember thinking it looked really cute and it is. I admired the little owl for following his dreams and showing bravery when confronted with a creature much larger than himself. However, the story seemed a little too simplistic to me and I felt like the cover blurb kind of oversold it. I think I was also thrown a bit by the appearance of a modern item in what is otherwise a medieval story. Some might find it clever but it just didn't work well for me. Therefore IMHO, the story itself didn't quite live up to all the accolades it's received. However, given that it has earned a great deal of favor, as well as very high ratings from reviewers on both Amazon and GoodReads, I admit that it might just be me. (After reading some reviews, I did find others who agreed with me, but we're admittedly in the minority.) What really did impress me about it, though, were the illustrations. Christopher Denise is an incredibly talented artist and I absolutely loved his artwork. That was the main reason I still gave the book four stars, and even though the story was a bit underwhelming, it was cute enough that I'd be open to reading the sequel sometime.

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Christopher Denise