Review of "The Owl and the Shepherd Boy" by Tuula Pere, PhD

Score: 90/100 (9.0 out of 10)

The Owl and the Shepherd Boy is a thought-provoking children's book by Tuula Pere!

The book follows Nicky, a shepherd boy (or goat herder) who finds himself on watch duty in the mountains. While he is out tending to the goat herd, he is effectively separated from his parents, family, and village. This seems to be a bit of a rite of passage or transition period for Nicky to assume more responsibility for the family property (and herd).

Not only is this challenging enough for the poor boy, but it is also revealed that Nicky suffers from nyctophobia (a fear of the dark), one of the most common phobias experienced by children and adults alike.

While this might seem like a huge pill to swallow for Nicky, it might also be a huge pill to swallow for some young readers, particularly in America. American children may find themselves lost or bewildered by the situation. They may wonder, Wait, the parents left the little boy alone in the mountains? What about stranger danger? Why is he unattended?

In the United States, supervision is paramount. Parents and teachers who don't closely supervise their children are often viewed as neglectful and irresponsible. With that said, children are still often unattended transiting to and from school, though often with a buddy system, i.e. accompanied by neighbors, friends, classmates, or siblings.

So, there's a bit of a cultural barrier here. It may be acceptable in some societies to leave a child alone in the mountains to take care of animals at night. It's generally not viewed as acceptable where we're from.

What we're trying to say that it's hard for us as an American audience to forgive Nicky's parents for essentially abandoning him in the mountains. In fact, it reminded us a lot of what happened in one of the Pere's other books, Traveling Companions, in which a boy's whole family abandoned him after he got injured during a landslide (though they did tell him they'd be back for him, and it worked out in the end). However, there seemed to be some necessity to the little boy being left behind in Traveling Companions as it may have put the rest of the people in danger going down the mountain. There isn't as much necessity for Nicky's parents (particularly his father) to leave him in the mountains.

But we digress, a lot of cultures and societies are different, and this could be seen as a coming of age story. At some point, boys must become men and they traditionally take up the occupations of their fathers.

It might also be important to consider context. We're told that Nicky's father will be gone for a while. We don't know exactly why, but we can draw some guesses/assumptions. Many of Pere's books have featured parents having to leave, and many of these tend to be books about wartime and peace. In other words, it's slightly possible that Nicky's father was conscripted to the military (though that would be a rather short deployment), or he could just be on an important business trip. In other words, the father might not have much of a say in the matter. He can't just avoid conscription or avoid making an important business deal. He also can't just abandon the herd—his family source of food and income. He may need Nicky to step up and be the man of the family for a while. It happens. So, it might be unfair to blame the father so much.

Anyway, the book does introduce a really interesting angle as Nicky's father provides the boy with a whistle which he claims will comfort him and help him to get through his fears and anxieties at night. The whistle becomes a powerful symbol, plot device, and motif in the book.

It turns out that when Nicky plays the whistle, it attracts the attention of a curious and concerned owl. The owl quickly becomes our favorite character in the book, despite its sporadic appearances. The owl turns out to be a compassionate, charismatic, kind, and loving character who is there for Nicky at his worst times (such as after the storm and losing the herd).

A part of us kinda wondered if the owl might be a reincarnation of one of Nicky's guardians or family members. Maybe the dad died early in his journey and came back as an owl? Maybe the owl is an old friend of the dad's who promised to look after the family in their time of need? Maybe the owl is a grandparent? Maybe Nicky's dad is a were-animal/were-owl who secretly transforms at night?

It really got us thinking.
Though a lot of these theories got debunked eventually, it was fun to theorize and form some head canon. It was food for thought.

Catty Flores usually amazes us with her illustrations, and she is a multi-time OCA winner for a reason. She has a unique style that you're either gonna like or not like (like with anything). We will say that part of the issue of this book is that it mostly takes place at night, so everything (including the illustrations) are dark. This book in general is a bit dark and dreary. There are times when Nicky smiles and shows joy or relief, such as when he sees the owl, but he seems to be really down and distressed through major portions of the book. The persistent melancholy might get to some readers. Another thing to mention is that the text is quite small, making it a bit challenging to read as a children's book. The font size on most pages could've probably been increased to 14 or 16.

Anyway, this book does explore some interesting themes like coming of age, courageously accepting and confronting new responsibilities, and overcoming fears and anxieties.

Check it out on Amazon!