Owl Babies
This book is best for:
- conjunction - and
- narrative - initiating event
- narrative - problem & resolution
- regular past tense verbs
Review
Three owl babies wake up in their nest to find that their owl mother is gone. “I want my mummy” cries little Bill. The owl babies do their best to comfort each other while waiting for their mother to return. When she finally returns, the baby owls bounce up and down, welcoming her with joy.
Owl Babies is a delightful story celebrating the bond between mothers and their children. It has a lovely reassuring message that mummy will always come back. So it can be used to ease the separation anxiety young children experience when going to school for the first time. Regarding language targets, there are many uses of the conjunction ‘and’ and regular past tense verbs throughout. The story also has a clear initiating event, problem and subsequent resolution.
* Special thanks to Janine Dannenberg for this book recommendation
For further speech and language targets in Owl Babies, see the list below.
Book Details
Narrative Structure: Reaction Sequence
Story Plot: Repetitive Tale
Themes:
- animals - birds, nocturnal animals
- family
- fear
- first day of school
- owls
- places - bush, forest, woods
- separation anxiety
Speech and Language Targets
Speech Sounds:
- /m/ - mummy, mother
- /r/ blends - branch, brave, bring, tree, trunk, cry, three
- /w/ - woke, where, want, wait, woods
Grammar:
- conjunctions (and)
- regular past tense
- possessive pronouns (their)
- subjective pronouns (they)
- action verbs (e.g. swoop, flap, dance, bounce)
- mental verbs (think, thought, wish)
Questions:
- where (where's my Mummy?)
Concepts:
- descriptive concepts (big, small, dark)
- quantity concepts (all)
Social-Emotional:
- family dynamics
Narrative:
- traditional opening
- time
- setting
- initiating event
- problem
- resolution
- direct character speech
Book Info
Published by Walker Books Ltd in 1994 (ISBN: 9780744531671)