ALL ABOUT OWLS

A first look at owls for younger readers. Arnosky (I See Animals Hiding, p. 220, etc.) describes a few of the 12 species of owls found in North America, their specialized eyes, ears, toes, hunting methods, and cries. His soft, watery, full-color paintings are appealing but lack the crisp detail of Helen Roney Sattler's excellent The Book of North American Owls (p. 394) and several other fine books on the subject that have been published in the last two years. Some spreads will not satisfy the science-minded. One night scene shows ghostly owls, swooping between shadowy trees, with white hand-lettered owl cries and the names of the birds indentified in white type; it's a poetic composition that is also confusing. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-8)