Master Owl meets Miss Bunny
This is the first of a series of 'Master Owl' books, starting with this one for 3 - 6 year olds - 'Master Owl meets Miss Bunny'.
Master Owl helps all sorts of animals to overcome the big issues in life. Miss Bunny is sad initially because she feels 'lost and small among the trees so big and tall'. However, Master Owl's mindfulness and wisdom helps her to look at life in a very different way and see how all things are connected together.
Children need a wise teacher, a guru, so I came up with the idea of Master Owl - the Guru who flew!
There is also a new chapter book for Young Readers 7 - 11 year olds, available now as a printed book and e-book on Amazon, called 'The Mindful Adventures of Master Owl'.
Click here to see this new Young Reader book.
Click here to read the second Picture Book story about Mr Squirrel!
I am currently touring Devon Primary schools, reading Master Owl and teaching mindfulness. Click here for more information.
Available to buy from:
Reviews
Book review from Books Up North
"The story helped me to understand what being mindful means.
Yusuf: This book was good because it taught me about being mindful. The story helped me to understand what being mindful means. There was also some useful information about animals and nature. The pictures were really good and I liked the nice and shiny look. The story is rhyming which was easy for me to read.
Mums thoughts: This story provides a simple explanation of mindfulness which is a great introduction for young children who have not come across the topic before. In addition to the story there is a lovely explanatory page at the end which guides the child through a practical method of being mindful.
This story is very comprehensive not only covering mindfulness but including much information about nature and sparked many questions from my young ones."
Listen to the author read the story...
"Shared Master Owl's story in my Mindfulness Class for Children. It was a super hit, my students loved it and said that they would like to hear more of these stories. One of them commented, "Miss! Master Owl is like you, he is showing Miss Bunny how to do Dot B. We should show her how to do 'Box Breathing' and 'Mindful Eating', I think she will love it, she likes to eat flowers."
An amazing story to introduce mindfulness to young people. I have bought a second copy for my niece :)
Thank you for sharing your writing with us."
“I read Master owl meets Miss Bunny with my son Jake, who is six years old. He really enjoyed it and throughout the story we kept stopping to talk about different feelings, which is not something he finds easy to do. He could relate to Miss Bunny’s feeling of being overwhelmed and not knowing what to do. He really liked the idea of stopping and breathing in and out slowly.
As I was reading it to him, he started practising it. He said that he could do it if he had a grumpy moment with his sister, for example. When we finished the book, he asked me to photocopy the four-step guide at the back to put in each room of our house so we could all do with a ‘Magical Mindful Moment’ together if things got a bit too much. When we did this together, he said he was very calm and relaxed. Fantastic. Absolutely love it. These skills will help all children and carry on throughout life and the book introduces it in such a child friendly way. Amazing!
Thank you so much, it was quite enlightening as a parent to see how much both children, individually, reacted to the story, it was heart-warming. Keep writing! You have a gift. Thanks again, Michelle, Devon.”
Available to buy on:
Master Owl meets Miss Bunny
Deep in the woods lives a wise old bird.
He’s sometimes seen but rarely heard.
And while other birds may shriek and howl,
He sits in peace – he’s Master Owl.
There are some who say he glows at night.
While others say he’s full of light.
But they all know he’s very kind.
They ask for help, he doesn’t mind.
Our tale begins one sunny day
When Master Owl heard from far away
The sad sound of someone crying,
So opened his wings and started flying.
With a few flaps of gentle flight
A little house came into sight.
The noise was coming from inside.
The Owl looked in to see who cried.
“Hello Miss Bunny,” the wise owl said
“Why are you crying there in your bed?”
“Because I’m feeling sad ” she moans.
“So sorry you had to hear my groans”.
The Owl stared with his big kind eyes
And thought about Miss Bunny’s cries.
He said, “Come outside - sit next to me.
We’re going to take this mindfully.”
“Mindfully” she said, “what’s that?”
The Owl replied, while Bunny sat,
“It means to notice how we feel,
and it can really help us heal.
So Miss Bunny, close your eyes.
Deep breath in . . . let out your sighs.”
She took some slow breaths in and out.
There was no need to move about.
She felt the earth beneath her feet.
She heard a distant birdy tweet.
She smelled the forest all around.
And felt herself just settle down.
“Thank you Master Owl,” she said
“I’ve less thoughts spinning in my head.”
“That’s great,” the wise old owl replied
“Now open your eyes nice and wide.”
Miss Bunny smiled and felt so glad.
She didn’t feel the least bit sad.
Master Owl breathed nice and slow
And asked her why she’d felt so low.
“I know what’s made me sad”, she said,
“and why I could not leave my bed.
I was feeling lost and small
Among these trees so big and tall.”
He said “that all makes perfect sense.
No wonder you’ve been feeling tense.
So now I know what you should go do.
Miss Bunny, I have a job for you.”
Go into the wood and under a tree
Dig little holes and see what you see.
I will come back to hear what you found.
Then off he flew. Bunny stared at the ground.
Scratching her head and holding her spade
‘I hope this works out’ she silently prayed.
Miss Bunny went digging for days at a time.
Great mountains of soil for insects to climb.
So one week later, our hero returned.
Bunny was keen to share what she’d learned.
In fact she was dancing and doing a twirl.
He smiled as he saw a much happier girl.
“Dear Master, it’s been an incredible week.
I was so confused by the words from your beak.
I mean what could I learn from digging these holes.
I’m the best digger, better than badgers or moles.
So what did I do, well I started to dig?
A small hole at first and then it got big.
The first thing I hit was the root of a tree
So I followed this root thinking, how long can it be?
I could not believe it! It went on forever.
And I found out that these roots are so clever.
They all suck up water, like really big straws,
Eating their food, like I do with my paws!
Some trees look sad, all alone in the wood
But from under the ground, I can see it’s all good.
Trees are best friends and connected together
Supporting each other, whatever the weather.”
“Wow”, said the Owl, “was there more to the trees?”
“Yes”, said Miss Bunny, “I met all these bees.
I also met squirrels, who were having such fun.
And a family of deer hiding out of the sun.
“That’s great to find out” said the wise Master Owl.
“What else did you find on your forest floor prowl?”
“Well by then I was hungry, so I nibbled a flower
And that’s when it hit me, this flower had power.
But how did it know how to grow on its own?
And what magic caused all its seeds to be sown?
What guides all these flowers to follow the sun
And return in the spring when the winter is done?
Well the closer I looked, the more I could see
That without all the soil and the rain and the bee
And the sun and the wind and the worms in the ground
Without all these things, no flowers would be found!
So dear Master Owl, I feel so happy now,
It’s a magical moment, when you know how.
The animals and trees are all part of me
And I have found a whole new family.”
Master Owl smiled and flew back to his tree
Where he sat and he breathed, just happy to be.
It’s good to take time just to stop and relax
And mindfully breathe as we lie on our backs.
Copyright © 2021 By Rob Holmes
Illustrations by Beidi Guo www.guobetty.com