Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. ( )

I thought this book wasn't as interesting as I would have hoped it to be. The best part of the book to me was the moral of the story which was that people should appreciate the beauty of nature. There was one illustration per two pages and I think the author set the pages up like that because the illustrations were more complex. The colors and shapes of the animals were abstract which was why I thought this book was appropriate for an older audience. I also believe that the author did a good job of building up to the plot. Piatti pointed out that all the barnyard birds only ate, drank and fought. The only birds that didn't do that were the happy owls. When the barnyard birds wanted to know how the owls were always so happy, the owls told them to appreciate the beauty of nature and enjoy the change of seasons. The other barnyard animals didn't understand this theory and became even more upset. I wish that the author would have found a way to end the story differently because I feel that the ending was abrupt. The language was geared toward older children by using words like "fowl, ruin, quarrel, preened, plumage, etc.". I believe that these are all tier two words that are content specific which would be harder for younger children to understand. ( )