Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl

With nearly eighty reviews at the time I write this, there probably isn't much more stellar insight that I can give, which hasn't already been given so much more eloquently. However, I will add my voice to the growing collection in appreciation for the amazing story and for the brave author. This book, for me, was one of my "on a whim" buys. I was poking around for information about owls one night, and the book popped up in the particular search that I was doing. The cover appealed to me, the "Look Inside" feature captured my attention, and I was indeed interested in learning "The Way of the Owl" concept because I actually wondered if it could be compared / contrasted in any fashion to "The Way of the Tao" of Chinese philosophy, the embracing of harmony, allowing nature to take its course, the recognition, yet appreciation for opposites, Yin Yang, etc. I know that is a strange connection to have made! However, something in the preview material I read and the circle-shaped picture on the cover--with the lady and owl--inspired that line of thinking and questioning. Here was a vivid, modern story filled with opposites, all in the process of achieving harmony: male-female; human-bird; civilized-wild; diurnal -nocturnal; educated-uneducated; pain-pleasure; confusion-calm; discomfort-comfort; life-death; hopelessness-hope; weakness-strength; truth-lie; cowardice-courage; good-bad; safety-danger; protection-distruction; spare-kill; justice-mercy; natural-unnatural; predator-prey; fingers-talons; freedom-captivity --to name only a few! I wanted to experience the story for myself. Also...being something of Harry Potter fan, I am attracted to owl stories or clever owls as characters within stories. So, I ordered the book in the expectation that there would be some genuine connections and nuggets of wisdom, spirit, hope, compassion, humor within the pages.I actually read (perhaps the verb should be devoured) the book the same day it arrived in the mail! LOL :) And yes! I found a few intriguing connections in Wesley's Way (his own owl nature) and with Taoism's "letting nature have its course." "Wesley the Owl" is NOT a book on Taoism or really any particular religion, yet one cannot help but find some strong (inspiring) spiritual threads in this beautiful tapestry of love, devotion, and life. As the story unfolds, readers see that the unreleasible wild owl, of course, is a being of nature, still operating according to his own deep instincts and simple interpretations of the world, though he, for his survival, must adapt to live in human environments just as his human companion, Stacey O'Brien, must adapt to live with him as he is, feathers, mice, and all. He and his human mommy-mate work together to achieve a new harmony--a balance, where opposites beings are married to the same "greater than self" ideas: routines, rhythms, relationships, sacrifice, and trust. For me, the most stirring statements in the book that capture all my ramblings above are these:"To that which you tame, you owe your life" (Page 18). And O'Brien's story proves this!"It seems to be universally understood among all sentient animals, even reptiles, that the eyes are the windows to the mind of the being within." (Page 53-54; HP fans will appreciate this passage.)"Owls do not tolerate lies" (Page 95)."I had chose to tame him and thereby made him vulnerable. I had taught him to trust me implicitly, no matter what. After so many years this trust was perfect and unbroken.....the Way of the Owl. You commit for life, you finish what you start, you give unconditional love, and that is enough. I looked into the eyes of the owl, found the way of God there..." (Page 211).Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, is credited with saying, "Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage" and "I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures." [quotes from [...] /l/lao_tzu.html] Wesley the Owl's story definitely exhibits the first quote. Stacey O'Brien, her family, her friends, and special barn owl created a powerful, life-preserving, life-enhancing circle of love that is refreshing in today's fast-paced, ego-driven, often selfish world. Both Wesley and Stacey were saved by love. // Through working with Wesley, the humans learned to appreciate the three most important lessons of living (treasures): simplicity --in a steady diet of one item, mice; patience--in sharing space with an intelligent, vocal non-human who had his own personality, needs, wishes, fears, expectations, and requests; compassion--in the daily, weekly, monthly, yearly care-giving to a wild animal that might have otherwise have died.So, in my opinion, this is a book worth reading. I enjoyed it from cover to cover because it opened my mind to new worlds and to new perspectives on ideas related to philosophy, science, and humanity. I would recommend it for those who are considering "wild pets," especially for HP fans who are thinking how cool it would be to have an owl! I would recommend it for newlywed and for new parents. I would recommend it for high school and college reading lists. However, due to some of detailed descriptions and events in the book, I think the readers should be at least 13 or 14 or better...with adult supervision for young teens, especially those who may have questions or concerns. PARENTS' NOTE: This is a book that openly discusses natural, personal, and often mature topics. Certain parts may create some serious concerns and / or strong categorical rejections for some readers, particularly those who hold certain political, economic, social, moral, or religious beliefs:1) Preparing / killing the mice for the owl to eat. These sections may disturb young readers if they are not taught about predator-prey relationships or about the care and feeding of unusual animal "pets;" they may disturb readers concerned about animals rights and the ethics of science and scientific research. (I confess to being disturbed by some of these passages myself though I understand that Wesley had to eat, and in his situation, he could not obtain the items himself, naturally from the wild as free barn owls would do. Forgive me, Ms. O'Brien, but I could not keep mice meat in my freezer / refrigerator or use my microwave to defrost it. If a bird lived with me, he would have to be able to stomach turkey, hamburger, and KFC! LOL :)2) Owl excretions...er... and Owl sex... [No further comment! :) ]3) Career & life style choices, activities, and attitudes of some of the people within the story, including the author herself.In my opinion, this book is best enjoyed by those who honor diversity and who keep an opened, inquisitive mind. It can be helpful for those who want to stretch their readerships by exploring people and activities outside of their regular patterns.

An enjoyable experience of love,understanding, and care. A demonstration that not only humans have sentient relationships, that animals have more feelings than previously known. A great read!

Well written, cute story. Need more heartwarming stories out there now.

I'm an animal lover and in addition to horses, dogs, cats, a duck, chipmunck, etc. have had house rabbits for 12 years(and learned that they are little furry beings from outerspace, with their own language, and are not at all like cats), and a conure (mini-macaw) for 17 years, which has taught me how smart and long-lived "parrots" are, and how these creatures can tune into their house mates emotions.Wesley's learning to fly, reaction to water, and many other parts resonated with my own experiences with both rabbits and conure.So I read this in one sitting and enjoyed it very much, although I thought for a scientist the author went a bit overboard on the animal/psychic and animal emotions parts, and some of it also seemed a tad "padded" - like a more ruthless editor would have improved things.I was also glad that Wesley lived to a ripe old age and that his death, while very sad, at least wasn't due to some stupid misguided act or attitude by his caregiver, who unlike the author of another bird memoir many of us have regreted reading, knew what she was getting into with adopting a "special needs" wild baby.I'd heartily recommend this book to anyone who is thinking of adopting a bird of any age or species, so they know what they're getting into.One comment on the Kindle edition: for the most part the many photos of Wesley are fine, but there is one photo missing - only the caption appears. I don't know whether this happened in the conversion to Kindle format, or if the photo is missing from the paper edition too.

Such a captivating read. I was hooked right away and couldn't put it down. Stacey gives clear descriptions and although it is science based it was still easy to understand. The relationship between human and owl was touching and fascinating. I was interested to read how much of her life was altered just to live with this bird. They had an interesting bond. I have shared this book with a few people and I will keep sharing it. Highly recommend it.

Hilarious and heart-wrenching. One of the best love and life stories I have read. I loved this book and trying to write this review through my tears is very hard. I greatly admire Ms. O'Brien's love, devotion and dedication. Thank you for sharing Wesley!

We are reading this book aloud, about 10 pages per session. The relationship between human and owl is warmly described. The explanations for the owl's behavior are scientific but written in understandable language. Our conversations here, after each reading, are stimulating, amusing, thoughtful, curious. We are eager each evening to read again and discuss again. Much appreciation to the writer for her clear descriptions, designed for those who do not have knowledge about her special studies. Recommend for middle school age and older, although younger children with particular interest in birds of prey may well enjoy this book, too.

This was a delightful book. I learned a lot about barn owls and other birds and animals. I enjoyed her story of dedicating her life to raising Wesley. It seemed to put some stress on her life but they had a lot of fun as well. Stacey is very inspirational for all of her work at Caltech and the wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. Thank you for all of your hard work!

Das Buch wurde schnell geliefert und entspricht meinen Vorstellungen

I learned many things about owls while enjoying the humorous incidents the author shared in her experience of living with an owl.The story is well written and engaging.

Bom Dia!Amei o livro muito bom..Os animais só tem nós ensinados a troco do nada.E muitos não conseguem ver isto.E tem coragem de mal tratar,abandonar,etc.Nós tiramos alguns cães da rua.Meu Deus o amor deles por nós.Não dar nem para espriccar..........É de mais.Sim recomentaria a todos lerem.Obrigada.

Stacey, una biologa, adotta Wesley, un barbagianni di solo quattro giorni. E poi vive con lui per molti anni, formando una coppia strana e affiatata…Stacey O'Brien stessa racconta questa storia. La racconta bene, con stile, umorismo, dramma.Lo consiglio senza riserve a chi ama gli animali. Si viene coinvolti. Si imparano tante cose affascinanti sugli uccelli e i barbagianni in particolare. Si vivono molte emozioni e verso la fine è difficile non commuoversi un po’. Sia Stacey che Wesley sono belli dentro.Unica piccola nota negativa: mi fa un po’ triste immaginare animali selvaggi come questo in cattività e le cose a contorno (ad esempio come deve essere nutrito). Nessuna condanna morale,l’autrice chiaramente ama gli animali e ha sacrificato cose importanti della sua vita per il suo Wesley. Solo che in qualche modo la sensazione che Wesley non potesse volare libero e cacciare topi a suo modo mi ha un po’ rovinato le parti puramente gioiose (anche se inevitabile, ripeto, l’autrice si è comportata in modo esemplare). Ma si tratta di un piccolo problema, probabilmente solo mio personale, che non impedisce di apprezzare questo libro, neanche a me e probabilmente meno ancora, o per nulla, ad altri.Sono contento di averlo letto, mi è piaciuto e lo consiglio.Non credo che esista un’edizione italiana, ma l’inglese utilizzato non presenta problemi particolari.

livre anglophone broché souple petit format papier recyclé récent (2008) consacré à l'amitié entre une biologiste et une chouette effraie; texte captivant en 17 chapitre partant du recueil de l'oisillon et décrivant un amour particulier de 19 années entre cet animal hors normes et sa colocataire humaine y compris dans les épreuves de la maladie; nombreuses photos n&b; quelques pages d'histoire naturelle de Tyto alba en fin; ce témoignage poignant ravira tous les amoureux des animaux et des oiseaux en particulier; un livre à ne pas laisser passer en occasion!