I Know How to Draw an Owl by Hilary Horder Hippely

I Know How to Draw an Owl

Hardcover – Picture Book, October 29, 2024

Hilary Horder Hippely

Candlewick Press · Hardcover · October 29, 2024

Belle draws the best owl in class, but she doesn’t say why: she sees them in the park, where she and her mother sleep.

Buy on Amazon

We earn from qualifying purchases.

Who it’s for
A tender picture book meets housing insecurity with honesty, warmth, and an owl’s quiet companionship.
Themes
Housing insecurity, Care and companionship, Empathy
Genres
Homelessness & Poverty, Bird Stories, Art & Architecture

Nearest books

Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.

  1. Where the Deer Slip ThroughKatey Howes58% match
  2. A Place for USJames Ransome59% matchShares Homelessness & Poverty
  3. My Olive TreeHazar Elbayya55% match
  4. To See an OwlMatthew Cordell71% matchShares Bird Stories
  5. A Snow Day for Amos McgeePhilip C. Stead55% match
  6. Gather GratefulMegan Litwin60% match
  7. I Know the WhaleRobin Yardi57% match

For older readers: Hoot, Belle Prater's Boy

Start with three books, and this one can be the first.

Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.

Start with this book

About this book

Belle draws the best owl in class, but she doesn’t say why: she sees them in the park, where she and her mother sleep. Charlotte Zolotow Award Winner! Belle and her mother used to have a house, a table, and chairs, a home like any of Belle’s classmates’. But things changed. Now, they curl up each night in a blanket nest in their old blue car, with their things packed in around them.

Continue reading

The first night was hard, but they’ve never been alone: their friend the owl has always been nearby, hooting in its tree, looking out for them. Belle longs to catch sight of it, and one night, she finally does. That’s how she learned to draw an owl. No one knows that story. But when a new boy comes to school, a boy whose car looks like Belle’s, a boy who looks lost and scared, it’s Belle’s turn to watch over someone. Hilary Horder Hippely’s soulful text pairs with Matt James’s atmospheric illustrations in a book all too relevant to the realities of many families. Neither flinching nor sensationalizing, I Know How to Draw an Owl is a deeply empathetic and age-appropriate portrayal of a family experiencing housing insecurity. A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year Winner of the Frostburg State University CLC Book Award Nominated for the Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Quiet, Clear-Eyed Empathy

A tender picture book meets housing insecurity with honesty, warmth, and an owl’s quiet companionship.

Come here for

  • A child’s perspective on losing a home
  • The small, steady comfort of noticing an owl

Expect

  • Atmospheric illustrations and soulful text
  • An empathetic, age-appropriate treatment of a difficult reality

Where it sits

Homelessness & Poverty98%
Bird Stories58%
Art & Architecture44%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Nature & Wildlife
  • Homelessness & Poverty
  • Self-Esteem & Resilience
Authors
Hilary Horder Hippely
Publisher
Candlewick Press
Published
October 29, 2024
Format
Hardcover
Theme
Housing insecurity · Care and companionship · Empathy
Reading lane
Nature & Wildlife