A great book for the kids in your life. It is fun to read and such a great book. I highly recommend the book.

It was okay. Just okay. I really don't have much else to say about it. It was okay. I wouldn't buy it.

My opinion of this book is reliant on how you intend to use it. Looking for an engaging and innovative plot? Maybe look elsewhere. Looking for a cute way to introduce famous works of art to young children? This might be the book for you.

This book is adorable!

Mr. Owliver is a night guard at the museum where they have pictures like....the Mona Lizard! I love the illustrations throughout the book.

Mr. Owliver gets a cute surprise at night on his birthday - but I won't give it away.

This is definitely a book I'll be buying for a few nieces or nephews in my life.

Read this with my 6 year old who most enjoyed the birthday surprise at the end but wasn't familiar with all the masterpieces and artists that were mentioned throughout the story so didn't find it as enjoyable due to his lack of background knowledge!

~Disclaimer~
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr. Owliver works as a night security guard at a museum. He loves his job. He doesn't have to wait in line to see his favourite paintings. One night on his birthday he goes to work and all of the subjects of the paintings are missing. He finds them all and they have a party set up for his birthday. He laughs and dances the night away.

This book was so cute. The illustrations were very good. I love how real pieces of art were taken and changed up to include animals. This is a cool was to introduce a small child to these masterpieces in a way that is fun and funny.


5/5 ⭐

This is a lovely picture book that is a fun and informative introduction to children about art museums and famous paintings. I loved the illustrations and thought it was really cute to have animals in the art. The timeline and information about the painting at the end was really well done, with just enough information to peak a young readers interest, not bog them down with facts.

Mr. Owliver is a night watchman at the Animaltown Art Museum. He loves his job and loves spending time with the famous masterpieces, especially since there are no lines to see the paintings at night. On his birthday, Mr. Owliver discovers something shocking - the animals in the paintings are missing! Where could they have gone? Mr. Owliver must find out!

Kids will love seeing all of the animals in Animaltown and adults will chuckle at clever recreations of famous paintings in the museum's collection: Henry the Ape, Mona Lizard, as well as works by Jan Van Duck and Vincent Van Goat.

I absolutely LOVED Mr. Owliver’s Magic at the Museum!

Mr. Owliver is the night watchowl at the local art museum. After everyone leaves, he relishes his time with his favorite paintings, communing with them like the friends they are. Among his favorites are the Mona Lizard and “The Loge” by Auguste Wrenoir. Every night, as he makes his rounds through the museum, he talks to the characters in the paintings, even eating his dinner with the lovely wren in the “The Loge.” However, one night, all the characters are gone from the paintings! Oh no! He’s the watchowl, and he neglected to protect the very characters he loved so much! But all ends well, so don’t worry!

This is a charming, clever introduction to some of the most famous works of Western art. The pieces are ingeniously presented with humor, yet they still retain the stunning individual characteristics of the original pieces. At the end of the book, the author catalogs the paintings in two very appropriate ways. First, in the order they are presented in the book, along with the correct titles, artists’ names, and a tidbit of information about the painting. Next, the paintings are presented in chronological order on a timeline. Both are very helpful information that would lead any child with a smidgen of curiosity to seek out the originals. Children from preschool through upper elementary would find this book enjoyable, but I suspect that even older kids would sneak peaks at it when no one was looking.

I gratefully received this book as an eARC from the author, publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review. But I liked it so well, it’s going on a couple of wish lists!

Cute story idea that we recommended reading. The drawings are wonderful and the main character is lovable. An added bonus is the story introduces art in a nice way.

The story itself is somewhat predictable, but what sets this book apart is the art and the wordplay. Young readers get to see Mr. Owliver walk around the museum taking in famous works of art, slightly altered. For example, the Mona Lisa becomes the “Mona Lizard.” The text mentions the long lines that people stand in to see paintings like the Mona Lisa (although this would have even more power if the painting was a small as the Mona Lisa really is). With each painting, either the works itself or the name of the artist was altered in a tongue in cheek way to make it have to do with animals. So “The Loge” by Auguste Renoir becomes painted by Auguste Wrenoir and “Dr. Gachet” by Van Gogh is “Dr. Goatchet” by Vincent Van Goat.

In addition, the back of the book has information on all of the paintings with little details about what makes them special. Children can learn that it took Seurat “two whole years” to paint “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” or the fact that the paintings Pinkie and Blue Boy truly hang on opposite walls from each other in their permanent home at The Huntington in Los Angeles. There is also an Art History Timeline showing when these paintings were originally done so children can see how art changed over the years.

I had such a fun time reading this book with my daughter. Mr. Owliver shows us that we can have special relationships with art. Whether you get lost in a landscape or are whisked away by the dancers in a Degas, there is something for everyone. We routinely talk about how art is in the eye of the beholder, that different paintings will move us in different ways. This fun book is a great way to start that conversation and make learning about famous works of art much more fun.

Carolyn’s Bracken’s story of Mr. Owliver’s Magic at the Museum is a wonderful read. The main character, Mr Owliver is the night watchman at the local Animal Art Museum. His job is to protect the masterpieces and guard the museum each night. As a nocturnal character, this proves to be no trouble at all. Mr. Owliver constantly patrols the galleries and creates an almost friendship with the painting subjects. On the night of his birthday, he notices a change in the museum and sets out to discover its source. What he finds is indeed a magical surprise!

Young children will enjoy the touch of magic in ordinary events and receive a wonderful overview of art history. The illustrated characters seem to come alive on each page and invite readers to join in the story. Together, the writing and illustrations create a magically comfortable place for children’s imaginations to roam free.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

For more information on this author and story, please view the book’s page on Schiffer Publishing’s website.

http://www.schifferbooks.com/mr-owliver-magic-at-the-museum-6333.html

This was such a cute story that I will definitely be purchasing once available for my library. The story is about an owl who is a night watchman at a museum. Every night he does rounds and protects the artwork. All of the artwork are based off of real masterpieces and recreated to fit the story. I loved how these masterpieces were changed to appeal to children. The story itself was sweet and educational. It even has a historical bibliography and timeline at the end with information about the masterpieces that this book used. It would be a great story to go along with a story time on art or museums.

Owliver is a night guard at a museum who enjoys hanging out with the subjects of the paintings around him. The best part about this book is how the names of both painters and paintings have been changed to include animals.

A children's book in the same vein as the Richard Scarry books. A great way to teach kids about some of the most well known paintings around. As someone who appreciates a good pun, I did like the play on names of artists or the paintings. Definitely something I'd recommend a parent who wants to ease their child into the fine arts to read.

One complaint is that it would have been nice to have a picture of the real paintings next to their animal counterparts at the end.

This book was so adorable. I love that it is introducing important art and artists to children in such a fun way. The illustrations in the book were stunning. The story itself was cute and easy enough for a child to follow along with. I will most definitely be purchasing this for myself when it releases in November.

I will post a review on my blog for this closer to the release date!

As someone who works in an integrated library, museum and art gallery, I was keen to read this children's book about Mr Owliver's job at Animaltown Art Museum. I was not disappointed, as Caroline Bracken has written and illustrated a really delightful book that children and the adults reading to them will thoroughly enjoy.

Since this is a world of animals with no humans, the artwork that Mr Owliver looks after features paintings such as the Mona Lizard, and The Adoration of the Magpies, while painters include Pigasso and Catisse: this book is crammed with puns and the reworked paintings are wonderfully done. The illustration is beautiful throughout the book and the story is interesting and magical for children to follow.

The reason this lovely book gets the full 5 stars from me is for the post-story pages, which in only two pages show what the 14 original paintings look like, along with the title, artist and gallery where each is to be found. Each entry even has a short sentence of information or interpretation. This is followed by a two-page art history timeline. All of this means that this book is an amazing art history resource as well as a gorgeous picture book with a sweet storyline.

I received this ebook free from NetGalley and Schiffer Publishing.

Mr. Owliver's Magic at the Museum is an absolutely delightful picture book, which is written and illustrated by Carolyn Bracken.

As an owl who stays up all night, Mr. Owliver works as the night watchman at the Animaltown Art Museum. He enjoys viewing the art, until one evening, Mr. Owliver discovers an unusual occurrence with the paintings.

Within forty pages, this children's book spotlights classic works of art and the importance of friendship. Throughout the book, artistic masterpieces are revised to depict various animals, yet there's a section listing the original artists, their artwork, and additional details. Also, an Art History Timeline is included.

Mr. Owliver's Magic at the Museum is an enjoyable easy-to-read picture book, and it's geared toward young children, particularly preschoolers to second graders.


Note: I received this book from NetGalley, which is a program designed for bloggers to write book reviews in exchange for books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Mr. Owliver is the night watchman at the Animal Art Museum. All the paintings in the story are famous paintings with the human subjects changed to animals and the artist's names slightly changed as well. Some of the paintings include "The Mona Lizard", "Henry the Ape" and Grant Woodchuck's "American Gothic." Mr. Owliver's favourite painting is "The Loge" where he sits with "Miss Wren" while eating his dinner. On the day of his birthday, he notices something is wrong. Where are the characters in the paintings? A delightful story. The illustrations are wonderful with the paintings front and center. The author did a great job with the text. I often have difficulty reading text placed over a background but this book always made the text easy to read. At the end of the book there is a gallery showing the paintings in the book but also the correct name of the painting and the artist. There is also a Timeline showing the history of the various styles. This is a great book to introduce children to famous paintings and pique their interest. I think as an introduction to art history, this book would be wonderful.

Reviewing an ARC (Advanced Review Copy) about Mr. Owliver's job as a nightwatchman for Animaltown Art Museum was just fun...fun...fun. I immediately fell in love with it. The concept is adorable! The writing is sweet and the watercolor style illustrations are delightfully hilarious and at the same time very intricate. I love the museum crew. In all honesty, I wanted to spend more time at the museum and view more original paintings being reworked. And I'm sure children will feel the same way.

At 40 pages, it is a good length for this type of childrens picture book. It will be a must read for story time as kids can sit back and and watch as Mr. Owliver walks throughout the museum. But, be advised you may hear an abundance of laughter. This book will also be excellent for classroom discussions on the various masterpieces. The back of the book does provide the necessary details on the original works of art. I highly recommend this book.