THE LITTLE WHITE OWL

In the middle of a snowy wilderness, there lives a little white owl, all by himself, with just his teddy bear. But his head is full of happy stories and he's got lots of toast to nibble, so he's never lonely. One day, he notices that the big blue sky seems to stretch on forever, so he decides to check it out. He flies to a forest of the prettiest trees, where a parliament of beautiful owls, with perfect bright feathers in a spectrum of colors, lives. They daren't move for fear of marring their feathers, but they're not shy to tell the little white owl how plain he looks. The little white owl shares his toast and declares that he does have colors, in his heart, and proves it with magical tales that bring smiles to his listeners. Soon they're spreading their wings. This fuzzy fable seems unclear of its message—fine feathers aren't all they're cracked up to be? stories have the power to liberate? always travel with a toaster?—though Corderoy's prose is lyrical (if treacly) and Chapman's illustrations are pretty enough. (Picture book. 4-6)