Young Tawny: The Owl in Borrowed
by Kevin McEvoy Herlihy
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Pub Date Aug 13 2025 | Archive Date Sep 28 2025
ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op | JFS Aloysius Lithography
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Description
Raised by penguins, Young Tawny, inherently knows that she is different, especially when she fledges and discovers that she can fly! With that discovery, she is compelled to leave the Land of Ice and her penguin sister, Isabel, to find her true home up in the boughs of the Woody Forest. With the help, and occasional hindrance of her singing and dancing owlet protégé, Anjouan Scops, Young Tawny struggles to find her voice, rather than krok, like a penguin. And why does everyone keep calling her an owlet? As for dancing, she’s a natural. However, when her borrowed feathers are detected in an audition at the Big Tree, she is exiled from the musical. While the show goes on without her, a raging forest fires threatens her new family, forcing Young Tawny to find her voice if she is to save everyone - And it is there that she finds her HOOT!
Advance Praise
Amazon UK Review (Sept 2nd, 2025) by Tracy:
Young Tawny - The Owl in Borrowed Feathers, Is a poignant tale that takes us on a journey of discovery in which a little orphan owl leaves its cherished adoptive home among the penguins to find its special place of belonging in the world. I really hoped this would turn out well, as the main character - Young Tawny - captured our hearts from the beginning and I didn’t want to depress my little listeners! I needn’t have worried.
Young Tawny is a beautifully imagined little creature: brave thoughtful and full of curiosity, carrying the reader through all its exciting adventures in a sweetly eccentric world full of enchantment and some very real challenges.
I especially appreciated the way these challenges - concerning friendship, family and community are dealt with - lessons of acceptance and forgiveness abound - all handled with a light touch. It has the feel of a classic in that it’s elegantly written and deftly illustrated: there are maps and a Glossary to help locate us in Tawny’s world; but it is also fresh, funny and relatable to our modern world - Our little friend must find a place to live, to work and also to prepare an audition for a thrilling talent contest…
A great bedtime/ rainy day story that could be read in instalments (I love instalments for a bed time story - trains attention!) also a useful resource for broaching some quite difficult subjects with wit warmth and considerable charm. We Loved it and would certainly recommend. My listeners were five and seven, but would work well for middle-grade readers.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9798999245809 |
| PRICE | $17.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 128 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 1319230
Sat down to read one chapter of this with my kiddo but he asked to keep going and before we knew it we had finished! I think it’s safe to say it was a hit. Tawny was such a cutie and we loved her adventure to find where she comes from and who she really is.
Librarian 1776019
Adorable story about a sweet little owl and its adventures. Making friends with penguins, seagulls and others, a great story line, cute graphics & a sweet book for young children. Thank you NetGalley for this wonderful ARC
Melissa B, Reviewer
When Young Tawny finds herself searching for her identity, she learns to connect with friends and sees the ones who accept her and care for her as family. Young Tawny: The Owl in Borrowed is a delightful children's novel about social inclusion and learning to connect with those around you. Kevin McEvoy Herlihy writes about two socially distant worlds, the frozen world of penguins who thrive on the ice and the wooded forests of the mainland where a variety of birds band and flock together to support each other. After Young Tawny is ostracized by her penguin community for hatching and growing up to appear too different from her family and friends, she sets out to the mainland where she finds herself surrounded by a community of owls, seagulls, and even macaws.
Young Tawny: the owl in Borrowed is a wonderful beginning novel for young readers who thrive on travel, adventure, and finding new worlds through reading while still holding onto the invisible yet present bonds of family and friends.
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