You can't be afraid of the dark,' said the mother owl. 'Owls are never afraid of the dark'
'This one is,' said her young son Plop. 'I want to be a day bird.'
'Oh dear,' said Mrs Barn Owl. She shut her eyes and, like all good mothers everywhere, tried to think how best she could help her child not to be afraid.
'You are only afraid of the dark,' she said, 'because you don't know about it,' and she sent Plop down to talk with all sorts of people on the ground below.
'Dark is exciting,' said a little boy on Bonfire Day,
'Dark is fun,' said a boy scout guarding a camp-fire, and
'Dark is wonderful,' said an astronomer.
In fact there wasn't one single person who didn't like the dark, but it made no difference to poor Plop; he was still scared of it - until he talked it over with another animal, a black, night-walking cat.
This is a charming, beautifully structured and witty little book, which should be a help to many a child who is as frightened of the dark as was Plop.
