A racially diverse group of students draw owls for an art assignment. Belle\u2019s depiction is especially praised for its lifelike quality and the wise nature behind the owl\u2019s eyes. Little do Ms. Rio or the other students know that Belle has firsthand knowledge of owls. Belle and Mom are unhoused; Belle tells readers that one day the two of them drove far out of town to a park in their car, packed to the brim with their cherished belongings. Belle\u2019s feelings of uncertainty were magnified by the spooky setting. Each night, Belle and Mom heard the \u201chooty lullaby\u201d of an owl; one night, Belle had a close encounter with the bird. The experience brought a sense of comfort as Belle realized that someone or something was looking out for the family, as if to say, \u201cI\u2019m glad you\u2019re here.\u201d The next day at school, Belle pays it forward upon seeing a new student in a similar situation, letting the boy know he\u2019s not alone. Hippely\u2019s lyrical, empathetic text complements James\u2019 mesmerizing, at times haunting acrylic illustrations depicting vast landscapes dotted with houses and secluded natural scenes rendered with thick brush strokes in comforting dark blues and greens. Wordless double-page spreads throughout allow readers to assume Belle\u2019s perspective and take in the child\u2019s day-to-day feelings of uncertainty, fostering empathy along the way. Belle and Mom are tan-skinned; Ms. Rio is dark-skinned.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A racially diverse group of students draw owls for an art assignment. Belle\u2019s depiction is especially praised for its lifelike quality and the wise nature behind the owl\u2019s eyes. Little do Ms. Rio or the other students know that Belle has firsthand knowledge of owls. Belle and Mom are unhoused; Belle tells readers that one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}