Owls in the Family

Owls in the Family

• Genre: Fiction; middle grade realistic
• Originally Published: 1961
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 980L; grades 3-7
• Structure/Length: 11 chapters; approximately 91 pages
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Billy, a young boy who lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, loves animals and has a large menagerie of pets that includes magpies, gophers, a dog, and some crows. The addition of two great horned owls, however, might be too many pets when they start turning the town upside down.  
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Animal abuse; outdated, insensitive references to Indigenous and Middle Eastern communities

Farley Mowat, Author

• Bio: 1921-2014; Canadian writer and environmentalist; great-great-nephew to Ontario premier Sir Oliver Mowat; wrote about birds in a column for the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix when he was a teenager; studied zoology at University of Toronto but never graduated; fought in Italy during World War II; after battle fatigue, became an Intelligence Officer and worked in the Netherlands to start food drops that saved thousands of lives; was once denied entry to the United States for being a suspected communist sympathizer, which he fought and eventually won; holds nine honorary doctorates; was honored with the Canadian Centennial Medal (1967), the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977), and the Knight of Mark Twain distinction (1980); was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (1981)
• Other Works: People of the Deer (1952); Lost in the Barrens (1956); Never Cry Wolf (1963); My Discovery of America (1985)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• The Relationship Between People and Animals
• The Payoff of Hard Work and Determination
• The Meaning of Family

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Teaching Guide, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the geographical and psychological contexts regarding Canadian wildlife and the benefits of pet ownership as these topics impact Billy’s relationship with his pet owls.
• Analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of The Relationship Between People and Animals, The Payoff of Hard Work and Determination, and The Meaning of Family.
• Create and present a visual representation of the various species in Mowat’s novel, based on textual details.
• Analyze and evaluate plot and character details to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding Billy’s coming of age, the significance of the owls’ personalities, the effectiveness of humor in the story, and other topics.