Ookpik: The Travels of a Snowy Owl

by Bruce Hiscock

One snowy owl's first year and its struggle to survive. Fed by his parents, Ookpik, which means "snowy owl" in the Inuit language, grows quickly in the short Arctic summer. By autumn he has learned to hunt on his own, but prey is scarce on the tundra that year. The owl's instincts tell him that he must leave this land or starve. Ookpik flies south, over the great forests of Canada, and finally lands in the United States, always searching for food and a winter hunting ground. With vivid watercolor illustrations, Bruce Hiscock depicts the changing landscape, from the treeless Arctic of Baffin Island to the dairy country of eastern New York. There, Ookpik settles for the winter, much to the delight of bird watchers. An author's note offers additional details on the life of the snowy owl.

Genres: Birds, Picture Books, Nature, Childrens, Nonfiction, Science, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2008

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hiscock, Bruce OOKPIK, The Travels of a Snowy Owl
Unpaged, Boyds 2008 ISBN: 978-1-59078-461-7 $18.03

The story begins,” Four eggs, white as the snows of winter,…on the Arctic tundra.” Enters an Arctic Fox who thinks that it may have a quick dinner until the mother Snowy Owl swoops down chasing it away. It is spring on the Baffin Island tundra and the female is sitting on her eggs. The male is having to search further and further each day for their favorite food, lemmings, and sometimes having to settle for the more difficult Arctic hare and small birds to survive.

As summer passes and the early cold of winter begins the two healthy chicks that their parents were able to protect know that they must head south to survive. So the male owl, Ookpik, which means snowy owl in Inuktitut, the Inuit language, begins his journey. Ookpik is shown up close against distant, muted watercolor landscapes as he travels from Baffin Island down through the Adirondack Mountains until he locates a dairy farm where he may roost in an open field until spring when he will begin his return journey.

Hiscock admits that the narrative story, which may be read aloud, is as “true to life” as he was able to make it based on his observations, research and personal travels in the Arctic along with the help of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Contains a territorial map and an author’s note page at the end stating the range, size, food courtship and nesting and life of the snowy owl. Although it has been nominated for the 2010 NY Intermediate Charlotte Award it seems that it should have been in the children’s category for its simplistic storytelling.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ookpik" is the Inuit word for the snowy owl. Bruce Hiscock describes in words and paintings a year in the life of a newborn snowy owl, who though living most of the time in Canada migrates as far south as New York State when food is scarce. I always think of owls as living in trees and barns--in high places. But the snowy owl, being native to the treeless tundra, prefers to perch on rocks or low hills, looking for the movement that means food. That makes the owl easy to spot when it ventures into New York. The next time I hear of one being spotted, I'm going to take a look. A very interesting book, and recommended.

[Corban · Rating 5 out of 5]

This year was an eruption year for snowy owls with lots of media coverage so we read some newspaper clippings about it (though they are not nocturnal and didn't quite fit the theme of our studies). It was this book, full of water-color paintings, that gave us lots of factual information. It traces the first year of life of a typical snowy owl, Ookpik ("snowy owl" in Inuit") and reads somewhat like a nature journal/adventure story/poetic encyclopedia entry.

[Londa · Rating 5 out of 5]

We both enjoyed this story about the fascinating journey of a Snowy Owl. It was a timely read because the same night we read the story, we saw a news story about how Snowy Owls were traveling further and further south to the delight of local birdwatchers.

The illustrations were exceptional with several 2 pages spreads to feast our eyes on. We learned a lot about snowy owls in the story and there was additional info provided in the author notes.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story...based on the real travels of a snowy owl who must head south to find food when food becomes scarce in the arctic but told in story form. I appreciate the author's notes about snowy owls which provide more information about snowy owls. They do not migrate every year, but only when the need arises.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great piece of writing. It's mostly a nonfiction text though it tells the story of a fictional snowy owl as an example of a typical life cycle for snowy owls. The illustrations are incredible and the details are very well researched.

[Emily Scarth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very informative book with out being “sciency” It covered the natural habitat of snowy owls and how and why they end up needing to migrate a bit south, also had some geography info. I loved learning more about snowy owls in a story format.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated picture book describing the first year in the life of this arctic bird, through the story of one bird; I think children would enjoy it very much.

[Ad Astra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations. More on owls that is nonfiction, but feels like a fun fiction picture book.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good combination of story and science!

[Tiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book. Snowy owl, story of their life.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ookpik is the Inuktitut word for snowy owl. It's also the name of the main character in this coming of age book about a young owl learning to live and hunt in his own. It may as well be a nickname for my son Sean. He has been passionate about owls (and snowy ones in particular) since he was 18 months old.

Ookpik: The Travels of a Snowy Owl by Bruce Hiscock follows Ookpik from hatching and fledging on the tundra and then down south as he makes his first journey. A warm winter and a dry summer has made prey scarce on the tundra. To survive young Ookpik must fly farther than any snowy owl ever has.

Besides introducing children to snowy owls, their biology and habitat, the book illustrates the hardships that animals face in the changes brought on my global warming.

Topics Sean and I discussed:

* What is the tundra and where is it?
* What are lemmings?
* Who are the Inuit and where do they live?
* Why do birds migrate?
* How can birds find their way home?
* What other migratory animals are affected by climate change?

[Sarah Herrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't a bad book, but I felt like it was sort of a tedious read in some places. The story just didn't captivate me, I guess.