Owly: Tiny Tales (Family Comic Friday)

Owly and his adorable forest friends are back in this all-new collection of short stories!

It's game night at Owly's house. Only tonight, the gang decide to explore their host's photo album. Each picture sends the group of friends on a trip down memory lane in a series of 9 shorts. There's adventure, drama, comedy and above all, love in these tales that prove that Owly really is the world's best friend!

I've sung the praises of Owly before. Series creator Andy Runton developed this magical world filled with creatures that I am just in love with. My favorite character is Possey, an encouraging opossum who can wrangle Owly's friends behind any cause. In Tiny Tales, I was introduced to Scampy, the ever hungry chipmunk who will steal your heart.

I had worried for a brief while that there weren't to be any new Owly stories as Runton had gone an a bit of a long hiatus. Thankfully, that break seems to be over with this return of Owly and friends. Though I have got to wonder, why hasn't Owly received the animated series treatment?! Andy Runton's comics would make a great pre-school series that easily could be at home on Netflix or Nick Jr.

I feel like Owly has grown up a bit with this revival title. Maybe I'm wrong. But I seem to remember all of the characters speaking in pictograms with just the occasional word to help along the narrative. Here, Owly still speaks in pictures but his friends now all seem to speak a kind of pigeon dialect of pics and words. Plus, there's an unseen narrator who helps the stories to progress. If this is a new direction for the series, then I am all in.

One thing else that I noticed with Owly's return: the art. I've long since been a fan of it. But gosh darn it, it appears that Andy Runton's work has just gotten even more polished and oh that much more adorable. Runton's smaller characters such as Possey and Scampy look like what you'd imagine Charles Shulz's Peanuts characters would appear as if they were all woodland creatures. When Runton illustrates those characters with their tiny paws pressed together and their faces are glowing with joy, it just melts my heart and I wholeheartedly believe that it will melt the hearts of the young reader in your lives too 

Ultimate fun for readers ages 5-9. The pictograms can make the stories fun for younger readers. However, the story 'Breakin the Ice' where Owly accidentally falls through a frozen pond may be a little too intense for them. Thankfully, it is an episode that ends with a happy ending.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Owly Volume 4: A Time to be Brave (Family Comic Friday)

 

 For today's Family Comic Friday offering, I choose a book about a character that has graced my comics collection for several years now. Meet Owly, the creation of Andy Runton. He's is a good-natured owl whose sorta the caretaker of his corner of the forest, helping out his friends Wormy the Worm and Scampy the Chipmunk.

   Since 2008, I've collected several editions of Top Shelf publications'  'Owly and Friends' Free Comic Book Day collections. Along with other kid-friendly selections from Top Shelf, each FCBD issue offers a 1-5 page short story about the fine feathered friend and pals. But I'd never read an entire volume of Owly- until now.

In this volume, Owly helps his buddy Wormy overcome his fears. First, the little guy's favorite tree gets damaged during a wicked game of catch. Then, after reading a fairy tale about a knight and a fearsome dragon, the little worm's imagination gets the better of him. Now everywhere Wormy goes, he thinks he sees a scary dragon in the big woods.

  Owly tries to assure Wormy that there isn't a monster in the woods. But when the avian big brother comes across a new creature he's never seen before, there might be some validity to Wormy's fear of a dragon stalking the forest. Who is this new character and is he friend or foe?

   'A Time to be Brave' is a fun all-ages graphic novel that teaches an important lesson about facing one's fears as well as trusting others. When the animals in the forest finally learn who is the 'monster of the woods' it takes time for both parties to trust that the other side wants to be friends. There are some moments that are a little heart-wrenching but thankfully there's a happy ending.

  Owly is written largely as a picture book. I think there was no more than 25 words in the entire book. As the characters often speak and show emotion in character form, readers of any age can understand just about everything being communicated. Plus the book is drawn in a very clean black and white format, making the scenes easy to view, even when some of the panels are as small as a half-dollar.

    I had the chance this week to chat with Owly creator Andy Runton via email. Along with answers to some follow-up questions about future volumes of Owly, Runton sent me a link to his website. I recommend you check it out for some great stuff. At the site,  parents and educators can find teaching guides that correspond to Owly's graphic novels and illustrated books. You can also download several Owly stories, an animated short, and some Owly and Friends coloring pages. If your child falls in love with the series, you can even commission Andy Runton to draw them a special picture or even autograph a book (There are fees for the commissions, of course.)

   Owly is a character that your aspiring comic book collector needs to meet. He's fun, sweet, and good friend to all. In this day and age, it's really hard to find a character that parents can't object to. Well, folks, now you have.

  Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.