Book giveaway: Owl Babies

For 25 years, the bestselling modern classic, Owl Babies, has been a comforting read for any toddler who has ever worried about Mum leaving them alone, or any child starting school for the very first time. 

Sarah, Percy and Bill, the baby owls, wake one night to find their mother gone. And as the darkness gathers and they perch patiently on their branch waiting for her return, oh how they worry!

With more than four and a half million copies sold worldwide, this timeless story continues to comfort and delight children all over the world. Never has the fear of being left alone by Mum been so sensitively told or beautifully illustrated than in this beloved picture book by two masters of storytelling, Patrick Benson and Martin Waddell.

Walker Books are publishing two luxurious editions – a paperback and a board book – gorgeously embossed with gold on the cover and spine. This is an edition to be shared and treasured, to be read time and time again, and to remind us all that Mum will always come home.

"A perfect bedtime story" - The Irish Times

"Stories about home-alone baby animals don’t come more appealing than this" - The Daily Mail

"Touchingly beautiful... Drawn with exquisite delicacy" - The Guardian

"Waddell’s stories treat the fears of the very small with wit and sensitivity... Benson’s pictures are outstanding" - Independent on Sunday

Patrick Benson has won many awards for his work, including the Mother Goose Award, the Christopher Medal and the Kurt Maschler Award. He gained great acclaim for his illustrations in Owl Babies and went on to illustrate The Little Boat by Kathy Henderson, The Sea-Thing Child by Russell Hoban and, most recently, Soon by Timothy Knapman. Roald Dahl personally requested Patrick to illustrate what turned out to be one of his last books, The MinPins, published posthumously. He lives in Hawick, Scotland.

Martin Waddell is widely regarded as one of the greatest living children’s writers and has over 200 titles to his name. He is perhaps best known for Owl Babies, illustrated by Patrick Benson, as well as Father Duck, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, the Little Bear series and The Park in the Dark, both illustrated by Barbara Firth. In 2004, Martin received the highest honour available to a writer or illustrator of children’s books, the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for his lasting contribution to children’s literature. He lives in Newcastle County Down, in Northern Ireland.

Owl Babies is published by Walker Books and is available online and from all good booksellers in both paperback and board book editions.

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