A Review By Tamsin

First published in 1968 this story has become a children’s classic.

 We all know owls are night birds and don’t they go “too-whit, too-whoo”?   Plop is a baby barn owl and barn owls make a loud screeching noise when they call.  Their pale undersides are sometimes glimpsed at dusk as they swoop past on silent wings.  However Plop doesn’t like the dark and wants to be a day bird.  His worried mother assures him that the reason he is afraid of the dark is that he doesn’t know anything about it and each afternoon she sends him away from the nest to find out more about darkness.

 Plops ungainly descent from the nest is described in hilarious detail.  He meets various humans and finally a cat who all tell him why they love the dark.  He finds out that it is exciting, kind and beautiful and, of course, after all his adventures finally embraces the fact that he is a night bird and flies off into the moonlight to hunt alongside his parents.

Children and parents can enjoy this book on several levels, the wonderfully funny descriptions of Plop and his family, his language and his adventures while at the same time learning about what makes us afraid of things and how to overcome our fears.