Their incredible eyes are huge. They have what is known as binocular vision. Although their eyes (tubes) are fixed in place, they can move their heads 270 degrees around and 90 degrees up or down. They do this firmly in place. They prefer the shadows of the night to the light of day, flying on silent wings. Most of them are known as nocturnal beings. Indeed, given these characteristics, owls would make excellent guardians from sunset to sunrise.
Humans who mirror some of these qualities are called "night owls." Knight Owl (Christy Ottaviano Books, Little, Brown And Company, March 15, 2022), the debut picture book from Christopher Denise as both author and illustrator, masterfully plays with words to bring readers a tale worth telling. It is about fulfilling a wish regardless of unfavorable odds. It is about courage and cleverness. It is about honoring what is held in your heart.
Since the day he hatched,
Owl had one wish.
To be a knight.
He dreamed of being a knight before falling asleep each morning. He would uphold all the fine attributes of being a knight. One day in that place between wondering whether you can make something happen and knowing it will never happen, events worked in Owl's favor. Knights were vanishing.
Owl applied to Knight School. Shockingly enough, he was allowed to attend. He embraced his studies. The equipment was a little tricky to manipulate, but he proudly finished all his courses to become a knight.
Owl was assigned the
Knight Night Watch.
As you can imagine, he excelled. He did not doze and enjoyed being alone. He was living his dream until one night an unusual noise broke the silence.
Whoosh!!!
He heard the sound repeatedly and called out with a distinctive "who." After a brief conversation, Owl found himself staring into the face of an enormous and very hungry dragon. (This might explain all the vanishing knights.) Owl used his knightly bravery to confront the beast.
For every statement by the dragon, Owl astutely countered with his comments. Owl finally offered a delicious solution which will elicit a quiet and stunned pause in readers and listeners before they knowingly burst out laughing. Needless to say, the kingdom was never the same after Owl became a Knight on Night Watch.
As clever as his character, Christopher Denise blends truths about owls with a heroic quest. Owl's size and his attendance and graduation at Knight School supply opportunities for wordplay and humor which Christopher Denise uses skillfully. His excellent pacing adds the right amount of tension. The verbal exchanges between Owl and the dragon reveal the personalities of them both, two creatures of the night. Here is a passage.
The other knights usually fell asleep during the long
Knight Night Watch, but Owl didn't mind. All alone
on the castle wall, he finally felt like a real knight.
Until late one evening, it was very dark
and very, very quiet, when . . .
When you look at Owl's posture on the front, right side of the open dust jacket, it is as if all his desires and realities have enveloped him. He is ready and willing to be a knight. By placing him on the top of the rampart, we are able to understand his size in comparison to his undertaking. The full moon provides a wonderful background. The dragon in the corner of the moon gives readers a hint of what to expect. Owl and the title text are varnished.
To the left of the spine, on the back, is a collage of notices placed on a stone wall in this medieval kingdom. Even the ISBN is placed in a notice. There is a shadow over these notices on the wall. It is the face of the dragon, mouth open and showing rows of sharp teeth.
On the book case is an interior image. Left to right, it shows a group of graduating knights in full armor with spears. One is carrying their shield with a dragon on it. In the lower, right-hand corner stands Owl, resolute and holding a spear. He has a red feather sticking out of his helmet. He is tiny compared to the others.
On the opening and closing endpapers in muted red, green and golden yellow is a diamond pattern outlined in golden yellow. Within the diamonds are dragons and knight's helmets. There are signs of aging over the entire image.
On the title page is a glorious two-page picture. Here we see Owl in his room at home. It is filled with all things knight. There are toy dragons. There are knightly posters on the walls. Owl is reading a book about knights. The color palette here is rich with hues alluding to history. Here, too, we see the brilliant dance of light and shadow used by Christopher Denise throughout the book.
The illustrations for this book were done using Adobe Photoshop, a Wacom tablet, Procreate, and an iPad.
Their sizes are full-page with a wide white border, two-page, edge to edge, a dream feature looking like a tapestry from medieval times, and smaller visuals on a single page. The perspectives shift allowing us to see Owl in comparison to his surroundings and bring us in close for heightened drama. It is guaranteed you will laugh out loud at some of the thoughts of the characters reflected in their eyes. Smart readers will see hints of Owl's witty resolution early in the book as well as why he appears as he does in the image opposite the dedication and publication information.
One of my many favorite illustrations in addition to the illustration on the book case is a two-page picture when Owl hears the strange sounds again. The background is an inky sky with a few stars. Most of the right side is a rampart wall, crossing the gutter to the left and getting much smaller as it moves to the lower, left-hand corner. We are looking up at the stony wall. Owl is peeking over the edge at the top with only his eyes and helmet showing. Behind him is the glow from his fire. On the wall is a huge shadow only readers can see. It is a dragon in flight.
Be ready for readers to request this title, Knight Owl written and illustrated by Christopher Denise, repeatedly. It is brimming with adventure, fun, and new-found friendship. It is the best kind of "what if" story enhanced by marvelous works of art. You will want several copies in your professional collections and at least one on your personal bookshelves.
To learn more about Christopher Denise and his other work, access his website by following the link attached to his name. He has a blog linked here. He has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Christopher Denise and this title are the focus of an interview at A Fuse #8 Production, School Library Journal by Elizabeth Bird.
Christopher Denise Presents KNIGHT OWL from LB School on Vimeo.
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