OWL's Summer Fun

Joan Weller is head librarian at the West Branch of Ottawa Public
Library, and the children’s literature reviewer for the Ottawa
Citizen.

This publication offers young readers aged 6 to 10 a potpourri of activities and information for summer. It contains crafts, quizzes, puzzles, jokes, games, brief non-fiction articles, and stories. Created by the popular children’s science publication, OWL Magazine, the book’s lively presentation of fact and fiction has a wide appeal. Science buffs will welcome Dr. Zed’s experiments involving making a flashlight and a telegraph set. For naturalists there are articles on wasps, beetles, and snorkeling, to name a few. Designed for browsing, the book maintains a staccato pace with the turn of each page. A highlight of this issue is a fine short science fiction story by the popular author Monica Hughes. Gardening articles, summer snack recipes, instructions on bicycle maintenance, punctuated with mazes, riddles, and much more will capture and keep young readers’ attention. The book is lavishly illustrated throughout with both black-and-white drawings and large, colored photographs. A few puzzles necessitate filling in pages, a point to be considered by libraries.