Genre
Picture books for children
Tone
Funny
Offbeat
Illustration
Big and bold
Subject
Disguises
Hunting
Owls
Predatory animals

This book is the best. Hoot owl is an adorably determined character who doesn't let their failures get them down (I'm deliberately using a gender-neutral pronoun because hoot owl's gender is unspecified and therefore open to any reader's interpretation!).

Also, it's one of those rare noir picture books (like [b:I Want My Hat Back|11233988|I Want My Hat Back|Jon Klassen|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327888784s/11233988.jpg|16160067] - read this if you don't see it). Hoot owl does a great noir-style narration throughout the book: "The shadowy night stretches away forever, as black as burnt toast," "I swoop through the bleak blackness like a wolf in the air." Slick af.

I also especially like kids books that don't sugarcoat the circle of life: "The lamb looks cuddly, but soon I will be eating it." Fair enough, hoot owl! Of course, our master-of-disguise is truly anything but, and their various (hilarious and adorable) costumes don't outwit their prey (so no animals are harmed in the reading of this book!)...until they start stalking a pizza. It is pepperoni. And it doesn't stand a chance against our crafty protagonist.

"I disappear into the dark enormousness of the night. I am gone. And the world can sleep again.
Until hoot owl returns." ( )

Ms. B recommended

Round orange Hoot Owl fancies himself a master of disguise...but his disguises fail to help him capture dinner, and he gets hungrier and hungrier. Finally, Hoot Owl catches...a pizza! ( )

A really fun picture book to perform, because Hoot Owl is quite the character! I like to abridge the text with even more repetition of key phrases:

"And look there...a tasty rabbit (lamb/pigeon/pizza)! Soon my sharp beak will gobble it up!"

"Everyone knows that owls are wise. But I am also a master of disguise! I _devise_ a costume..." (What kind of disguise would you wear to catch a rabbit/lamb/pigeon/pizza?) "Look! I disguise myself as a..."

"The darkness of night surrounds me. I fly through it as fast as a shooting star.
...The night has a thousand eyes, and two of them are mine. I fly through it as stealthy as a cat.
...The silence of night surrounds me. I fly through it as quiet as a mouse."

-why it’s great:
-collection connection:
-songs & rhymes: "Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around" Hoot Owl edition, "Wheels on the bus" animals edition
-book talks:
-literacy asides:

Hoot Owl is getting hungry, so he devises a series of disguises guaranteed to get him close to prey. However, his disguises don't work until he dresses up as a waiter and feasts on pizza at last.