When the recommended flower becomes home to two little greenĬaterpillars, they’re a bit put off but soon take a shine to the critters. Wormy is taken with a flock of passing butterflies, so the two ask a raccoon florist what kind of flower Wormy and Owly, the stars of Runton’s Owly comics, here make the leap into their first picture book. Runton, Andy (Author), Runton, Andy (Illustrator) Even very young children will be able to puzzle out the story's details from the expressions on the characters' faces, and Runton's unvarnished sentimentality creates an atmosphere of absolute security. Runton's colors are unabashedly cheerful-lemony yellows, sky blues, and velvety purple for night scenes-and clever, rewarding touches abound (when Owly gets a brainstorm, it's an efficient compact fluorescent light bulb that appears).
Owly is a round ball with enormous, expressive eyes and pointy ears tiny, blobby Wormy often perches on his head. " ? !" " = home," a baseball-capped caterpillar explains tearfully. Since there's no text, their heated discussion is portrayed through speech balloons containing miniature illustrations and energetic punctuation: " = !" Wormy protests. In the duo's first picture book, Owly learns that in order to attract the butterflies he yearns for, he must plant milkweed in his garden however, he and Wormy are disconcerted by the caterpillars that show up. KIRKUS, February 1, 2011, *STARĪndy Runton, S&S/Atheneum, $15.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4169-5774-4įans of Runton's series of graphic novels know about Owly and Wormy's warm friendship and Owly's love for all living things. New format, new look, same “Aw, shucks” story, art and characters. The author/illustrator’s customary warm humor pervades this wee story: Wormy, upon seeing the chewed milkweed leaves, “speaks” in a rebus that illustrates a sick-looking flower with a thermometer in its mouth an idea that strikes Owly combines old convention with newfangled eco-consciousness with a curly florescent light bulb that hovers over his head. Owly’s simple emotional ups and downs register as clearly as ever-so does the sense of time’s slow passage-and the huge-eyed bird radiates appeal even more strongly here than in his previous appearances as a line-drawn figure. (Owly has been appearing in his own eponymous graphic-novel series since 2004.) Related in large and easy-to-follow pictures, the wordless episode (helped by occasional exchanges in rebuses) pairs sweet-natured Owly and his vermiform sidekick with two caterpillars who appear on a milkweed plant, become good friends and playmates through a variety of weathers, mysteriously disappear for some weeks and then, in a joyful denouement, at last emerge as monarch butterflies.
Graphic novelist Runton trades off page count for picture-book-bright hues and tones in his first all-color Owly story.
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