Little Owl Rescue

Little Animal Rescue #5

by Rachel Delahaye, Suzie Mason (Illustrator), Artful Doodlers (Illustrator)

In this latest installment of the new chapter book series Little Animal Rescue , what starts out as a day at a carnival and a ride on the flying swings for Callie and her friend Gabriel ends up becoming an adventure for Callie when she is magically whisked away to Texas, where she finds an abandoned barn owlet. Includes black-and-white illustrations throughout.

One night at the carnival, Callie and her friend Gabriel decide to go on the flying swings. As they spin higher and higher in the air, Callie suddenly feels huge gusts of wind, and she can’t see anything in front of her. When the ride stops, she finds herself alone on an expanse of farmland. She knows that she has been brought there to help an animal, and soon, she discovers a barn owl family. Then the mother disappears and leaves an owlet behind! Knowing she must do something to help the baby bird. Callie leaps into action. But with night closing in and dangerous animals all around, Callie will need her tiny friend’s help as much as it needs hers....

In the Little Animal Rescue series, join Callie on her magical adventures to rescue wild animals in danger all around the world!

Genres: Childrens, Animals

128 pages, Paperback

Published April 12, 2022

About the author

Rachel Delahaye writes children's fiction. Her teen sci-fi, Electric Life was longlisted for the 2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing, and her upper middle-grade eco thriller Day of the Whale was nominated for the 2023 Yoto Carnegie.

Her catalogue includes a middle-grade series called Mort the Meek - a dark and gruesome comedy, described as 'Pratchetesque' by The Guardian, an animal adventure series published by Little Tiger, and a three-book comedy series, Jim Reaper, published with Piccadilly Press.

There are more middle grade and teen projects on the horizon. Rachel also writes fiction and poetry for accelerated reading schemes and Level Readers to help children gain reading confidence.

Reviews

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Callie is magically transported to a woodland in Texas where she sees a baby barn owl in trouble. The owl family has lost their nest when their tree was cut down, and now the little owlets are hopping around on the ground. Some of the little owls are strong enough to fly, but one young owl is barely able to flap their tiny wings. Callie must find some way to feed the owlet and teach it to fly!

This chapter book is so sweet and fun! The writing is perfect for ages 8-11, as children start to read more on their own. The plot is fairly simple, but keeps things interesting. I liked learning all about barn owls and their habits in the wild.

Every three or four pages there is a pencil illustration with soft lines. I liked the art work and how it enhanced the story!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Callie thinks she might use her love for animals in a future career. But as often happens to her, she ends up time-traveling to a Texas cornfield and woods while on a ride at a fairgrounds with her cousin Gabriel. She finds an owlet left behind by its mother and rescues it from a predatory bird as well as a harvester at work late at night. The scenes in which the two of them are endangered are particularly riveting and heart-pounding. But as always, with careful actions and respect for the natural world, Callie prevails, and the bird, whom she names Cookie, survives long enough to join the rest of its family. It's rather cool how Cookie helps Callie in some respects just as she helps the fluffy owl. The small sketches of various scenes and the use of various animal sounds lend an authenticity to the story, one that will appeal deeply to youngsters who love animals and dream of making a difference as does Callie when she reaches out to the owner of the land where the corn was being harvested to alert him to the presence of wild animals who need a place to live. Fans of this series will see that the plot follows a particular pattern, but the familiarity will comfort them.

[Judy Wollin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and enjoyable read about the importance of looking after wildlife.
Fliss is on a flying chair ride at the fair when she feels dizzy and knows she travel somewhere to rescue an animal. She lands in Taxes in a cornfield and searches until she finds the animal that needs her help. A barn owl circles overhead, and Fliss follows it. She finds that trees have been logged to expand the cornfield, and the owl’s nest and three chicks are on the ground.
One chick is abandoned as the adult, and two chicks fly off to find a new nest. When a horned owl tries to catch the chick to eat it, Fliss rescues it and needs to find its mother and the two other chicks. It is night and not so easy. Night harvesting of the corn puts Fliss and the chick in danger, and a racoon thinks the chick is dinner. The nest is too high for Fliss to reach. What will happen to the chick?
A fun and informative read about rescuing an owl. It is a fine edition for any library.
Recommended for readers eight years and older

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

An endearing story about a girl who is transported to a different setting to help an endangered owl. I liked that she had to use both street and book smarts to help the owl, and learned some lessons from the owl along the way as well. Will appeal to readers of Magic Tree House who love animals and are ready for a more challenging read. Illustrations help break up the text and provide some lovely context. I picked this up on a whim at Walmart and would be interested to read others in the series.

[Holly Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could be a great series for kids that love the Magic Tree House books and are big animal lovers. I need more books in my collection for this age-group and interest-group and reading level. This is the only one I've read, but I really liked it. I think kids would too. But not reluctant readers. I'm not so sure how it will appeal to our "gamer-crazed" kids either.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cute environmental early chapter book would be a good readalike for the Wind Riders series.

[Catharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit like magic treehouse meets animal rescue. I think this series would appeal to grade 2/3 readers who have an interest in animals and want some light adventure.