Uncle Owl

Author: Binoy Barman

Illustrator: Ariful Islam
Translator: Magdalena Cooper
In a big field next to the village, the villagers gather for a meeting. “Rats have become a big nuisance for the
whole village," says one of the villagers. "They are spoiling our wheat and stealing our crops.”

2/16
Another villager adds,
“These rats are chewing
holes in our clothes and
leaving garbage in our
yards.”

“What can we do? What can

we do?” they all murmur.

3/16
Two young men push
through the crowd. “We
need to ask Uncle Owl for
his help. Only he can save
us!" they say.

"He lives far away in the

hills beyond the river, but
we can find him if you let
us."

The villagers quickly talk

among themselves. “You
must go and bring Uncle
Owl to our village right
away!"

4/16
The young men cross the big river climb up and down many hills.
Finally, they come across a villager.
“Do you know where Uncle Owl lives?" they ask.

The villager tells them that they must search for a big banyan tree called the Banyan of Owls. There, they will
find Uncle Owl.

5/16
After many hours, the two
men find an old man sitting
under a huge banyan tree.
There are owls sitting on the
branches all around him.

"This must be Uncle Owl,"

whisper the men.

6/16
The men tell Uncle Owl how
their village has been
besieged by rats.

Uncle Owl listens to them

carefully. Once they finish,
he asks them a question.

“Do you have a banyan tree

in your village?”

"Yes!" exclaim the men.

"We have one right in the
middle of our village.”

Uncle Owl promises he will

come to their village soon.

Relieved, the two men begin

their journey back.

7/16
HOO HOO HOOOOO!

What's that noise?

The next evening, the

banyan tree in the middle of
the village is full of owls.

8/16
The villagers find an old
man in a yellow shawl
standing under the tree.
The villagers gather around
him as the owls hoot loudly
from the branches.

"This must be Uncle Owl,"

they whisper. “When did
Uncle Owl come to the
village? Nobody saw him
coming along the village
road."

Uncle Owl raises his

hand. The owls and people
fall silent.

9/16
10/16
Uncle Owl addresses the gathering. “Tonight, all the rats will
disappear from this village. But remember, everyone must stay
inside their homes. If anyone steps out,” he warns the villagers,
“they will be in great danger.”

As the night spreads itself across the sky, two young men are too
curious to stay at home. They climb up the branches of a mango
tree and wait for darkness to come.

11/16
In the dead of night, Uncle Owl hoots loudly. Hundreds of owls fly from the banyan tree filling the night sky
with the rush of their wings.

12/16
At the end of the night, the owls return to the banyan tree, each
with a rat clutched between its claws.

Uncle Owl’s orange shawl has dropped to the ground and Uncle
Owl stands beneath the tree. His body is covered with bird’s
feathers. His legs look like a bird’s, and head like an owl's. He
has two big wings instead of hands.

'HOO HOO HOOOO', he calls to the owls.

13/16
The owls drop their rats on
the orange shawl. As if by
magic it folds up and the
rats disappear into the soil.

Uncle Owl stretches his

wings and flies silently into
the sky.

14/16
Suddenly, he dives down at
the mango tree where the
two young men have been
watching him secretly.

15/16
The next morning, the
villagers are delighted to
find that there is not a
single rat in the village!

But where are the two

young men? The villagers
search high and low, but the
two men are never to be
found again. Some say
Uncle Owl turned them into
owls and took them with
him.

What do you think?

16/16
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Story Attribution:
This story: Uncle Owl is translated by Magdalena Cooper . The © for this translation lies with Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC
BY 4.0 license. Based on Original story: ' েতাম চাচা', by Binoy Barman . © Room to Read , 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Other Credits:
This story 'Uncle Owl' has been published on StoryWeaver by Room to Read.
Images Attributions:
Cover page: An owl sitting in the dark under a tree, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 2:
Rats near a field, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 3: A man watches rats infesting his
home, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 4: Two images of two men raising hands and
leaving on a journey, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 5: Two people climbing a
mountain, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 6: An old man sitting under a tree, by Ariful
Islam © Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 7: Two people talk to an old man, by Ariful Islam © Room to
Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 8: Birds flock to a tree in the evening, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014. Some
rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 9: Owls on a tree look on as a man addresses a gathering, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014.
Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 10: Two people on a tree look at a crowd of people leaving at night, by Ariful Islam © Room to
Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC​-BY​-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify,
distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking
permission. For full terms of use and attribution,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
 This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative
Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories ​‐
provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about
this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link.

Images Attributions:
Page 11: A group of people, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 12: Owls fly at night, by
Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 13: Birds flock to a tree, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read,
2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 14: An owl stands among a pile of dead rats, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014.
Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 15: An owl swoops towards two people sitting on a tree, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read,
2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 16: A person walking up towards a tree, by Ariful Islam © Room to Read, 2014. Some
rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC​-BY​-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify,
distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking
permission. For full terms of use and attribution,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Uncle Owl Rats are everywhere in the village! They are destroying rice
paddies, wheat fields and chewing clothes and books to bits. The
(English) villagers request Uncle Owl to help them scare off the devilish rats.

This is a Level 3 book for children who are ready to read on their own.

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