✦Martin Waddell · Reading companion
Owl Babies
Read together, notice different feelings, and make a gentle plan for waiting.
A book to read together
Owl Babies
Original prompts to use with your copy.
Owl Babies is written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Patrick Benson. Bring your family or library copy and explore these original Curiosi prompts about feelings, waiting, and support. Children may talk about the characters or invent a situation; they do not need to share a personal worry.
Notice the mood
Before reading, look at the cover and ask which colours or shapes the child notices first. What sort of mood do they suggest? Try describing a feeling without deciding what will happen. An adult can offer a different idea and explain the clue they used. Both readers can keep their predictions until the end.
Compare different points of view
While reading your copy, pause when the child notices a reaction. Ask what the character might be thinking and which words or picture details suggest it. Compare that response with another character’s if the child wishes. People can feel differently in the same situation, and a quiet reaction can matter as much as a loud one.
Think about a waiting plan
After reading, choose one moment to discuss. Ask what helped a character and what else might have been useful. Invent an everyday wait, such as taking turns for a game. What information would help? Who could answer a question? Explore a realistic plan with a trusted adult rather than promising exactly when every wait will end.
Make paper feeling windows
Fold a sheet of paper to create two panels that open like a window. Draw a different feeling on each panel and a helpful action inside. It could be asking a question, sitting near someone trusted, or choosing a quiet task. Let the child change the drawings or leave one blank. Share the ideas without judging one feeling better than another.
Your turn to read
Keep the conversation going
There is no single right answer. Invite young readers to notice, wonder and imagine.
Which picture detail helped you name a feeling?
How could two characters react differently?
What question might make an everyday wait easier?
Make something: Draw a three-part waiting plan for an imaginary classroom: who I can ask, something I can do, and how I will know what happens next. Talk it through with a reading partner.
