The Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky

Exciting news! According to Variety.com, "Warner Bros. has acquired film rights to Kathryn Lasky's children's fantasy series 'Guardians of Ga'Hoole.' " The films will be done with computer generated imagery. The author will be writing the screenplay, which gives us hope that the films will actually follow the books. There doesn't seem to be any information yet as to when the first movie might be released.

The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series begins with the adventures of the young barn owl Soren in a world of various owl kingdoms, heroes, and villains. In the first book, The Capture, Soren is pushed out of his nest and picked up by some scouts from St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. The Academy is definitely no Hogwarts: it's more of a prison camp in which owlets are brainwashed to forget their own identities and are never taught to fly. Even in this harsh environment, however, Soren is able to find a friend in Gylfie, a petite elf owl, and together they maintain their hope and plan to escape.

The series introduces readers to several varieties of owls and details of their behavior, most of which seems very true to actual owls. Lasky has also created special vocabulary such as "yarping" and "going yeep" to allow the owls to describe special aspects of their lives. Yarping is the act of coughing up pellets of indigestible bone and fur, and going yeep is when an owl becomes so upset that it forgets how to fly. Lasky's owls also have their own cultural traditions in the form of tales, songs, and beliefs that guide them. My daughter and I have really enjoyed learning about owls while we follow the adventures of Soren, Gylfie, and the other owls they meet.

Lasky, Kathryn. The Capture. New York: Scholastic, 2003.
---The Journey.
---The Rescue. 2004.
---The Siege.
---The Shattering.
---The Burning.
---The Hatchling. 2005.
---The Outcast. Available September 2005.

McNary, Dave. "Fantasy in WB future: Studio laps up Lasky's 'Guardians' books." Variety.com. http://www.variety.com Search for "ga'hoole." Viewed 23 June 2005.