Owls in the Family

59 pages • 1 hour read

Owls in the Family

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1961

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Introduction

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-4

Reading Check

1. Which animal is “the commonest thing on the prairie”? (Chapter 1)

2. Which two groups of animals strongly dislike each other?

3. Why does Billy’s father allow the owl as a pet?

4. When is the “only time [Billy] really hated school”? (Chapter 3)

5. Who is Wol?

6. What happens when Offy sees Wol in Billy’s house?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe the opening scene of the novel. Where are Bruce and Billy? What are they trying to do on this particular day?

2. What type of owl do Bruce and Billy find? What do they decide to do?

3. Summarize what happens when Mr. Miller tries to climb the tree. What do he and the boys determine?

4. What subject do Bruce, Billy, and Murray talk about every day at recess and after school? What do they finally decide?

5. What are Wol’s living conditions at Billy’s home? How does Wol find a friend?

Paired Resources

“Great Horned Owl”

The Canadian Wildlife Federation offers information about this owl species in Canada.
Connections can be made between this information and the themes The Relationship Between People and Animals and The Meaning of Family.
Based on the text as well as the above resource, how should humans interact with great horned owls?

“Saskatoon”

Historical photographs of the city are featured.
In which year is Mowat’s novel based? How do the photographs of Saskatoon in that year compare with the novel? How do the photos contribute to your understanding of life in that time period?

CHAPTERS 5-8

Reading Check

1. What type of game is “can-the-can”?

2. What animal is in the box signed “SURPRIS PET DO NOT FEEED”? (Chapter 6)

3. What is “Wol’s favorite game with Mutt”? (Chapter 7)

4. What is the only animal that Wol dislikes?

5. Why do the baby chickens go to Wol after hatching?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Compare and contrast Wol’s and Weeps’s personalities.

2. What trick does Wol learn to do? How does this relate to Wol’s safety in the neighborhood?

3. What special event does the T. Eaton Department Store announce that they will host? Summarize how Billy and his friends prepare for the event. Are they successful?

4. Describe Mutt and Weeps’s relationship. How does their relationship differ from Mutt and Wol’s?

5. Where do Billy and his friends, along with Wol and Weeps, like to spend time in the summer? Summarize the activities that they pursue there and how they almost lose the place.

Paired Resources

“Summer Pet Parade”

The Cornwall Community Museum in Ontario offers a historical overview of pet parades in mid-20th century Canada.
This information connects with the themes The Relationship Between People and Animals, The Payoff of Hard Work and Determination, and The Meaning of Family.
In what ways is a “pet parade” an opportunity for families to engage with their pets in the community?

“Farley Mowat, Canadian Storyteller, Activist, and Icon”

The University of Toronto explores Mowat’s impact as a writer and environmentalist. (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing due to complexity and maturity)
Topics throughout the article connect with the themes The Relationship Between People and Animals, The Payoff of Hard Work and Determination, and The Meaning of Family.

CHAPTERS 9-11

Reading Check

1. What is Wol’s “favorite pastime”?

2. What do people in Saskatoon call Billy’s family’s caravan?

3. To what city do Billy and his family move?

4. Where did Bruce move to prior to Billy’s family’s relocation?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe Wol’s interaction with the new minister. How does Wol react to this visitor?

2. What are the challenges that Billy faces with the owls and attending school? What example does he provide regarding how Wol reacts to the situation?

3. Describe the incident on the lake with Wol, Billy, and Billy’s father. How do Billy and his father react to the situation overall?

4. Summarize Billy and his father’s trip to see Bruce. What difficult decision does Billy make and how does he feel about the situation?

Recommended Next Reads

Lost In the Barrens by Farley Mowat

Mowat’s 1956 novel follows protagonist Jamie across Canada as he moves from urban Toronto to Arctic Manitoba.
Shared themes include The Relationship Between People and Animals, The Payoff of Hard Work and Determination, and The Meaning of Family.
Shared topics include nature and wildlife, mid-20th century children’s literature, and growing up in the Canadian landscape.
Lost In the Barrens on SuperSummary

Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Clearly

Cleary’s 1955 middle grade novel follows siblings Beatrice “Beezus” and Ramona as they navigate the challenges of sisterhood.
Shared themes include The Payoff of Hard Work and Determination and The Meaning of Family.
Shared topics include mid-20th century children’s literature.
Beezus and Ramona on SuperSummary

Reading Questions Answer Key

CHAPTERS 1-4

Reading Check

1. Gophers (Chapter 1)

2. Crows and owls (Chapter 1)

3. Billy’s father realizes the owl might eat some of the other animals Billy has collected, such as rats and rabbits. (Chapter 2)

4. Billy does not like school in springtime since it means he cannot be out on the prairie when birds nest. (Chapter 3)

5. The owl that Billy and his friends save from the wreckage of the storm (Chapter 3)

6. She quits her job on the spot. (Chapter 4)

Short Answer

1. Billy and Bruce are on a hike from the town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, into the neighboring prairie. On this particular day, they are searching for owls’ nests because they have decided they want pet owls. (Chapter 1)

2. After searching through the prairie all day, Billy and Bruce come across a great horned owl. They decide after their long day of following the owl to ask their teacher for help the next day to locate the nest. (Chapter 1)

3. When Mr. Miller climbs the tree to search for the owl’s nest, he believes that it is just for crows; however, the owl finds him and begins to attack him in order to scare him away, as the two boys look on. When they try to outsmart the owl by building a “blind,” the owl catches on, causing Mr. Miller to drop his camera. (Chapter 2)

4. Murry, Bruce, and Billy talk about the young owls and how they might take them from the nest. The boys talk about cutting down the tree, shooting the old owl or using firecrackers, but in the end a storm ruins the owl’s nest and kills two of the babies. (Chapter 3)

5. After Billy’s father bans owls from the house, he helps Billy build a cage outside. Wol likes the cage, but he becomes lonely; however, after Billy saves another owl from being bullied, he brings it home to become friends with Wol. (Chapter 4)

CHAPTERS 5-8

Reading Check

1. Football and baseball combined (Chapter 5)

2. An old, toothless rattlesnake (Chapter 6)

3. “[T]he tail-squeeze” (Chapter 7)

4. Skunk (Chapter 7)

5. Because the chicks think he is their mother (Chapter 8)

Short Answer

1. Billy notes that Wol is more adventurous, not minding if he falls; however, Weeps is more fearful and dependent on Billy. Billy reveals later in the chapter that while Weeps eats any type of food, Wol is pickier with his meals. Regarding appearance, Weeps is “a normal owl color, sort of a mottled brown” but Wol is “almost pure white.” Neither owl knows how to fly, and both like to climb trees. (Chapter 5)

2. Wol learns how to tear holes in the cage’s wire with his claws. Although Billy is initially concerned for Wol’s safety, he soon sees that Wol can take care of himself: Wol kills a neighborhood cat and terrorizes the dogs. (Chapter 5)

3. The T. Eaton Department Store announces that they will sponsor a pet parade. Billy and his friends prepare for the event by making a circus parade float for all of his pets. Although they prepare for the event, they do not win first place because of the rattlesnake that Bruce brings as a “surprise pet.” The judges and crowd flee when the snake is revealed, and chaos ensues when the other animals run loose. (Chapter 6)

4. Although Mutt does not usually like the animals that Billy brings home, he takes a liking to Weeps because of the owl’s scared and helpless nature, and the two spend a lot of time together. This differs from Mutt’s relationship with Wol, as the owl likes to tease the old dog with different “practical jokes.” (Chapter 7)

5. Billy, Bruce and Murray, along with Wol and Weeps, like to go to a secret cave, where they can explore, hike, and swim in the river. One day, some older boys bully Billy and Bruce and try to coerce them into revealing the location of the secret cave, but Wol scares them off with his Owl Hunting Scream and his ghostly appearance. (Chapter 8)

CHAPTERS 9-11

Reading Check

1. Wol enjoys perching on humans’ shoulders as they walk and move about. (Chapter 9)

2. “Mowat’s Prairie Schooner” (Chapter 10)

3. Toronto (Chapter 11)

4. About 200 miles away to a fox farm (Chapter 11)

Short Answer

1. During a new minister’s visit to Billy’s house, Wol lands on the shoulder of the minister, surprising him and making him drop his teacup in surprise. Wol is not happy with the interaction, and he retreats to his tree for the evening. (Chapter 9)

2. When school starts again, the owls struggle with staying behind at the house, and they try to follow Billy to school. One day, Wol follows Billy all the way to school, and Billy must tie up Wol outside. Eventually, Wol breaks free and finds the classroom Billy is in, giving the teacher a fright and causing Billy to be sent to the principal’s office. (Chapter 9)

3. While on a canoe on a lake, a murder of crows sees Wol and tries to attack, causing the canoe to capsize into the lake. Billy’s father is angered by the crows and takes the opportunity to shoot as many as he can with his shotgun. (Chapter 10)

4. Billy and his father visit Bruce on his family’s fox farm for the weekend; they bring the owls with them so that Wol and Weeps can live with Bruce. Billy talks about the wonderful conditions on the farm and knows the owls will be well cared for, but he is sad to leave them and hopeful that he might see them again. (Chapter 11)