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Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite
The Song of the Owl - Latin American Folktale by Delia Berlin is a story set aeons ago when owls could sing and they had a beautiful voice. Everyone who lived in the jungle feared the Mighty Spirit because when he was happy he provided for the jungle and when he was angry his wrath unleashed a lot of calamities. Spring was going to arrive and there was going to be a big banquet. Mother Owl feared that her youngster would be chosen by the Mighty Spirit for the routine annual sacrifice. The sacrifice assured peace and abundance for the coming year. Father Owl asks the Mighty Spirit to spare the most handsome owlet in the lot as it is their baby. The Spirit agrees and decides to eat the ugliest. The story conveys a couple of good messages to children. It shows the how bad vanity can be and the importance of communicating properly.
A bilingual book in English and Spanish, the story is simple but the message conveyed is profound. Though short, the story is descriptive and very visual. The story tells the reason why the owls ended up getting a sad voice and singing mournful songs. It is a beautiful story for children and it can be used in school libraries and classrooms for read aloud sessions as it has a good message. Parents and grandparents can also use it as a bedtime story book. I would definitely recommend this Latin American folk tale for reading.