Five Little Owls by Mark Carthew and Mini Goss

FIVE LITTLE OWLS 9 781921 042553

NEW FRONTIER PUBLISHING

ISBN-10: 1 921042 553 ISBN 1-9210-4255-9 ISBN-13: 978 1 92104 2553

Mark Carthew & Mini Goss

Follow Five Little Owls as they play an unexpected game of hide and seek under the moonlit sky with some familiar creatures of the forest.

Author Mark Carthew’s love of the environment comes alive with his use of simple evocative imagery and rhyme, while award-winning illustrator Mini Goss has created another stunningly beautiful picture book.

FIVE LITTLE OWLS Written by Mark Carthew

•

Illustrated by Mini Goss

FIVE LITTLE OWLS Written by Mark Carthew

•

Illustrated by Mini Goss

First published in Australia in 2007, reprinted in 2014

by New Frontier Publishing ABN 67 126 171 757 Suite 3, Level 2, 18 Aquatic Drive, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086, Australia www.newfrontier.com.au Text copyright © 2007 Mark Carthew Illustrations copyright © 2007 Mini Goss

For Ethel & Michael Perry and Pat & Jack Fraser, owls and all of nature’s beauty – MC For David Attenborough for inspiring my love of animals – MG

This book is copyright.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.

Inquiries should be addressed to the publishers.

All rights reserved National Library of Austalia Cataloguing-in-Publication data: Mark Carthew. 1956–.

Five Little Owls.

For pre-schoolage children.

ISBN 9781921042201 1. Owls – Juvenile fiction. 2. Counting I. Goss, Mini. II. Title.

A823.4 Designed by Ronald Proft and Mini Goss Printed in Hong Kong

Five little owls in an old oak tree,

watching all the things that an owl can see, blinking and winking with big round eyes at the big round moon high up in the sky.

As I passed beneath, I could hear one say, “There’s a mouse in the forest, there is today!”

Then all of them hooted,

“ Tu -whit, tu -whoo!

Yes, a mouse in the forest,

Hoo -hoo! Hoo -hoo!”

F ar down below, scritch scratching in the grass

a tiny dusky field mouse quickly scurried past.

osh

wo

S

hhh...

Off flew Owlbert, through the midnight sky, gliding past the treetops, moonlight in his eyes.

. . . . . . h hhh

h h S

S

said the field mouse in a whisper, mild and meek.

“Please be very quiet, we’re playing hide and seek.”

“ Tu -whit, tu -whoo! ” “That’s always lots of fun.

Come on, I know the perfect place, The game has just begun!”

said Owlbert,