Title: The Owl and the Christmas Tree
Author: John Nieman
Illustrator: John Nieman
Publisher: PageTurner Press and Media LLC
ISBN: 978-1-63871-644-0
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book / Christmas Story
Pages: 34
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
Author John Nieman takes out his watercolor paints to combine his word-smithed story of an owl which got stuck in a Christmas Tree along with a series of very artistic illustrations in his book, appropriately titled, The Owl and the Christmas Tree.
The story begins in a tree farm, where workers cut down a 75-foot Norway Spruce tree, and tied it on a flat-bed truck to transport it into the city to be on display by an ice rink. When the workers tied the tree onto the truck, the little owl got trapped in the branches and went along for the bumpy and scary ride, only to be noticed later when the tree was at its destination and stood up. The owl, along with Gus, the spokesperson worker of the tree event, instantly became a media celebrity, and the owl was given the name Rocky. Every day reporters are trying to top each other with front-page newspaper stories asking Gus all about Rocky, and people came to see for themselves this little owl Rocky.
The story goes on-and-on with tidbits of humorous events, as Rocky gets rescued from the tree and brought to a shelter for a medical examination. Once he was pronounced healthy, the story tells, “Gus had the honor of releasing Rocky in the woods. Instinctively, he knew the environment was key. He said goodbye and set him free, and hoped his new found friend would find a comfy tree.”
The synergy of a protagonist being an owl, the holiday time-of-year excitement, a lulling rhyme to the text and very captivating illustrations bring The Owl and the Christmas Tree into the best-in-class category within such an expanding genre of illustrated Christmas story children’s book. John Nieman has created a book which showcases his talent of being a writer, poet and artist. Animal lovers as well would agree this is a book not to be missed, as children will take to these pages time-and-time again to look into the piercing eyes of Rocky, as how this little owl sees the world around him.
