Little Hoot by Amy Krause Rosenthal and Jen Corace

I generally listen to the opinion of booksellers, and so I was pleased to take one of my favorite booksellers up on her recommendation that I read Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Jen Corace.

Little Hoot is a young owl from a conventional owl family. He attends school, of course, so he knows what other youngsters are up to. And he knows that they all go to bed at a reasonable time.

Why can't he go to bed at a reasonable time, too?

But no, Mom and Dad both insist that he stay up just one . . . more . . . hour.



You simply must read this book. MUST, do you hear me? Because the dialogue and the story and the illustrations are all pitch-perfect. The parents sound like parents, Little Hoot and friends play like real kids, and the pictures are so cute that you really, really want to squish the little owl in a squishy, huggy way.

I'd say more, but I see that Betsey Bird at Fuse #8 has already done so, so I say - Go. Read her review. And then, read the book.