China is gearing up

• Notes from Kathryn

All fifteen Ga'Hoole books came out in May

Owls are everywhere! 

And you cannot imagine my delight when I recently discovered that there are more owls in China than anyplace else in the whole wide world. Not only that but just two years ago five orphan owl chicks were discovered by a villager in Xiajiang County, east China's Jiangxi Province. They were taken to a sanctuary and then released just a year and a half ago! And not only that but owls have been a part of Chinese art for more than a thousand years! Screech owls, Barn owls, Horned and Eagle owls have all been represented in many different art forms from ceramics, to bronze statues and stone carvings in your country. I think China loves owls as much as I do.

            So that is why I am so happy that you will be able to meet my friends, the characters in my book series The Guardians of Ga’Hoole. The “stars” of this series are Soren, a Barn owl, his little buddy Gylfie, an Elf owl, one of the tiniest owls  in the world,  as well as Twilight, a Great Gray and Digger, a Burrowing owl.

But you will encounter many more aside from these four. I hope you’ll enjoy the adventures they have. Perhaps you will find one that you think might be like yourself  even though you don’t have wings! I know which one I think I’m most like. But I won’t tell you. It’s my secret. You decide which owl who is most like you and that you could become best friends with.

Fly on, my Chinese friends!

Kathryn Lasky