Review: Otis the Musical Owl

Summary: Otis isn’t your ordinary owl. For one thing, he’s got high musical tastes—Bach, Mozart, Chopin. And human language? Mastered it. But after flying the coop from an animal rehabilitation lab, Otis undertakes his biggest challenge yet: discovering his long-lost family.

It’s a task that will set in motion a massive animal pursuit all over Otsego County, New York State, as once sworn food-chain enemies join forces to help the charismatic owl discover his roots. Meet Pee Wee, the little field mouse with a big heart who organizes his brethren to scour every barn for Otis’ family; and Mary, a fellow owl who could hold the key to what really happened that day Otis was left an orphan. Through it all, this brainy bird learns the value of having friends in low places, while showing the high-flying leadership qualities that soon make him an inter-species legend.

Join Otis on his journey to seek out his mom, dad, brother and sister in this spirited look into an animal kingdom off-limits to us humans—until now. -- Outskirts Press

I really thought from the description that OTIS THE MUSICAL OWL by Joseph N. Chappelle sounded like a book that my daughter and I would enjoy. I tend to like kid's books about animals, and I was hoping that the story of a special owl named Otis would be entertaining. Unfortunately, I'm sad to say that I didn't enjoy this book very much, and neither did my daughter.

I thought the first chapter about a family discovering a baby owl and eventually giving it to a game warden was pretty good. I liked how at the end of the chapter, the author left open the possibility that the owl the family kept hearing just might be Otis returning to their home. Chapter 2 told about the time that Otis lived in the animal rehabilitation center. While I found some of this chapter interesting, especially the parts that explained how an owl hunts and flies, it got a little weird to me when the author wrote that "Some of the animals thought of Otis as a god. Some of him thought of him as a devil."

From this point on, I wasn't really "into" this book. I admit that when the storyline turned to unicorns and then distant galaxies, I kind of started to tune out. Even though this book didn't really appeal to me, I will say that there were some good overall messages in it. For example, Otis learned three Great Truths: 1. All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. 2.One can do all things through God, who strengthens one. 3. Every day is a day that God has made, and one must be glad and rejoice in that day.

My daughter wasn't exactly drawn to this book either; however, she did enjoy a few parts of the story. She liked that Otis was learning about his family and trying to find them. In addition, she thought the part where Pee Wee the field mouse rode on Otis' back while Otis was flying in search of his mother was "very funny and exciting." She was afraid that poor little Pee Wee would fall off of Otis.

All in all, OTIS THE MUSICAL OWL wasn't one of our favorite books; however, we did manage to find some enjoyable parts and good life lessons.