GOOD NIGHT, OWL

A quick and direct introduction to the idea of sharing has quirks aplenty in its translated text.

Moonlit woodland scenes are constructed paper-collage–style of disparate pieces in contrasting textures and atmospherically tinted with muted greens and grays. Within them, a small owl observes several animals wakeful or sleeping. Then he spots another owl. They give the matter due consideration: “On each branch an owl ashelf, / And both begin to think: Is it good / To hunt each by himself?... / Or is it best to work in synch?” After concluding the latter, the two share a “worm” (apparently a very long caterpillar, as it has teeny-tiny legs) and, with a tap on the final picture, lean together companionably. Along with frequent odd locutions (“He sees the cat surround the rat / And toad come out of his hide”), the all-caps text falls into and out of rhyme, at least in its English version, and doesn’t always accurately reflect details in the accompanying illustration. (It’s also available in German and several Romance languages, with optional audio.) The pages are slow to load, there is no musical track, and interactive elements are largely limited to touch-activated hoots or small shifts of position.

A worthy message is marred by a presentation that is, to say the least, unvarnished.