I'm not a huge short story reader nor a big fan of middle grade books but this was cute and a fast read. Grace Lin had my favorite story. I'm not sure if a middle grade student would really enjoy this one as the stories tend to end too quickly (hence why I never like short stories myself). 

 

I'll be hearing Ellen Oh speak next month so I'll be curious to see what she has to say about this book. 

 

 

 

In Flying Lessons, Owly learns about acceptance and overcoming fears when he tries to make a new friend. Along with his friend, Wormy, Owly finds a strange new creature. When they try to find it in a book, they realize the creature is a flying squirrel and that its main predator is the owl. Owly is still determined to befriend the flying squirrel and Wormy tries to help.

 

The artwork is in black & white which allows the focus to be mainly on the character’s faces as they express complex emotions. Younger readers can appreciate the simple pictures and story, and older kids and adults will get the deeper meaning. The wordless stories leave room for children to come up with their own interpretations.

 

I loved this story, so cute, and so touching. This is a great graphic novel series, that should be part of every elementary school library.

Star Rating Art: 5 Stars
Star Rating Story: 5 Stars

Self Purchase for Kindle.

One of my favorite things about this graphic novel series is that there is no text to read. It’s all images. Occasionally, that does make it a little hard to understand what the artist/author is trying to say. I do kinda wish it were in color. This series is very Juicy. Juicy is a term my husband came up with for feel good, happy, warm and fuzzy feelings. Even my three year old son is using the term now. The Owl is so tenderhearted. The worm, is adorable especially when he sticks his tongue out when he is concentrating. The Racoon makes an appearance, it’s so fuzzy and cute. Every issue seems to introduce another animal. This issue, it seems to be a flying squirrel. LOVE how the worm gets to fly on the squirrel’s back. I guess I never noticed that the Owl doesn’t fly. In this volume, he gets flying lessons. Super Juicy!!!


A little bit of anxiety when the poor Owl wakes up and his best buddy who normally sleeps next to him isn’t in his bed.

Recommendations: If you like Mutts or anything with animals, you will love this.

One day Owly and his worm friend are in the forest planting a flower. It turns night and they hear a rustle. They see that it is a flying squirrel and Owly wants to befriend it. But The flying squirrel is afraid and leaves quickly. Owly decides to try to warm up to the little guy.I think this is a really cute graphic novel series. I'm not a kid and I really enjoy this series. I know it's wordless, but even with pictures it tells a great and heartwarming story.

Yay, more Owly! The PandaBat and I haunt the new books shelf every week. One of us (at least) picks a newly-arrived graphic novel.