The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark: as read by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge on CBeebies Bedtime Stories Paperback – Picture Book, October 15, 2002

Jill Tomlinson, the brilliant author of this book -The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark- as well as quite a few others of a similar vein, must have mainlined her inner child when developing Plop, the main character in this wonderful story.Plop is a young barn owl. Plop is a hungry, young barn owl. Plop is a hungry, young barn owl frightened of the dark, and Plop's poor, exhausted parents are at their wits end about the whole situation. Between hunting trips & way too few naps, Plops parents -rather than forcing him to face his fear unprepared- urge him to learn as much as he can about the dark. Plop achieves this by approaching a few of the characters who happen to be within sight of his nesting tree.Wait a minute...I need to stop. There is no way I can even come close to summarizing this story for you that would do it the justice it so well deserves. Buy the book...really!I will, however, say that this is one of the BEST children's stories I have EVER had the privlege of reading, let alone sharing with my child. My little girl (who is 7, as of today) is very much like Plop. She's intelligent, precocious, outgoing -and dare I say it?- a HOOT! And, also like Plop, she fears the dark. The story kept both of us interested the entire time, & we shared so many laughs! And, on the last night of the story my brave little girl asked me to turn off the light...Whether you are looking for a book to help a child deal with this fear, or if you are just looking for a great book to read to (or with) a child, I'd say this book is a guaranteed WINNER! Buy the book!I am looking forward to reading three other books by Jill Tomlinson I bought for my girl's birthday; the ones with the cat, the otter, and the aardvark. I have no doubt they were created with the same magic as this one. Check them out.Enjoy!

Almost 30 years ago my mother read this to me, when I had a paralyzing fear of the dark. Now I read it to my son. This book is not just a fun story and well written, but a wonderful way of helping children with their fear. My son now likes to pretend he is Plop (which usually involves falling off his landing branch) and is into all things Barn Owl. He is not into the dark yet, but this book gives us great things to talk about. This book is designed for kids probably kindergarten-elementary age. There are minimal pictures, and it is about 99 pages of story. My son is 4 and a book worm and loves listening to it. The way it is written with some fun humor, means I love reading it!

I’m like so many other reviewers who fondly remember a book from their childhood, with wonderful language, and then order a copy to share with their children and find it’s now been abridged. And the beautiful language is gone. For this book, to be sure you get the full chapter version with b&w illustrations, check the number of pages. I ordered the version which had 112 pages and it was the correct one. The abbreviated picture book version is listed as having 32 pages.

I really enjoyed this book. The owl is afraid of the dark and wants to be a day bird. But then he meets a number of animals and people that share with him the excitement of night time and out his fears to rest. I only took off one star because the story about the old lady using night to remember her past was very saddening to me. I may skip reading that part to children because I do not think they will connect to it.The book is separated in chapters so you can read it over many nights. I think it will be a good way to ease a child's fear of the dark... as long as the child knows they are no owl and are supposed to sleep at night while the owls roam.

The original book is delightful: this would be the paperback edition with black and white pictures, which is the original chapter book. We read it quickly over a few nights (my daughter is 5), and I myself didn't want to put the book down. Plop is just too charming.I wanted to try the book edition with color pictures, so I also bought this hardcover version, but boy was I disappointed.. The color picture book is NOT a chapter book and the story really looses its charm (very much shortened with respect to the original version, with most of the dialogues missing). So, don't make my mistake: just stick with the paperback edition, and the black and white figures. You won't be disappointed.

Plop, the very young owl, instantly endeared himself to my 4 year old grandson who was fighting his fear of the dark. It started when Plop fell out of his tree rather than flying gracefully. What 4 year old can't indentify with awkwardness, fear, and being reluctant to share the depth of his fear with his parents for fear they might be disappointed in him. And the friends Plop met along the way to share the necessity and beauty of the night were warm and inviting as well as helpful. It was a kind and gentle story which my grandson and I delighted in sharing and discussing together.

This is a lovely book, the art work is very nice. The story itself is cute and is perfect for a small child. It is wonderful book for a bed time story.

I absolutely loved this book as a child, and couldn't wait to share it with my children. I had been disappointed so far to only find a shortened picture book version of it, but this is a reissue of the original text, albeit with new illustrations. Amazon seem to have mixed the reviews for both this new reissue and the shortened (less good) version. Rest assured, this is the proper one! My 7 year-old twins find it just as funny and entertaining as I did.