The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark

Before reading

Read the title and talk about the pictures. How do you think the baby owl feels?

Plop was a baby owl who was very afraid of the dark.

“Dark is black!” said Plop. “No, it can be silver or blue or grey,” answered his mum.

One day Plop fell out of the nest and landed beside a little boy. “Ooh!” cried the boy. “Are you a firework?” “No,” said Plop, “I am a barn owl.” “Oh, we only see fireworks in the dark.” “Do you want it to get dark?” said Plop. “Oh, yes,” said the little boy. “Dark is exciting. Tonight we are going to have fireworks. They whoosh and whizz and make a wheeeee sound in the air!” “I think I will like fireworks,” said Plop.

Plop meets more people and a black cat. Can they help him not to be afraid of the dark?Vurderingseksemplar Later that day, Plop met an old lady. “Dark is kind because you cannot see the things that are old and worn,” she said.

Then Plop met a Boy Scout. “Dark is fun because you can use your torch and play games,” said the Boy Scout.

Next, he met a little girl. “Dark is necessary because Father Christmas only comes when it is dark,” she said.

Plop then met a young lady who thought dark was fascinating. “Badgers, bats and hedgehogs only come out when it is dark and I like to go and see them.”

Later, he met a man with a telescope. “Dark is wonderful because you can see all the stars in the sky.”

Finally, he met a black cat called Orion who said, “Dark is beautiful because the moon turns everything to sparkling silver.”

“I am not afraid of the dark now!” said Plop.

owl ugle

nest reir

exciting spennende

worn slitt

Boy Scout guttespeider

torch lommelykt

necessary nødvendig

fascinating fascinerende

Based on The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson

badgers grevlinger After reading hedgehogs pinnsvin wonderful vidunderlig beautiful vakker sparkling glitrendeVurderingseksemplar a Who did Plop meet and what did they say about the dark? b Which adjectives describe the dark? c Why do you think some people are afraid of the dark?