I read this book when it first came out last fall, and now I’m pleased to find out that Mind & Media reviewers will soon be having a chance to read and review The Bark of the Bog Owl. Last summer, my son was in a Kids’ Book Club at a nearby bookstore, and the club read the first two books of The Wilderking Trilogy, this one and book two, The Secret of the Swamp King.

To coincide with the club’s reading, the bookstore scheduled the author to come hold discussion with the kids in the group. (He was also on his way through Georgia to visit family.) The kids loved it. One of the moms in the group told me her daughter has read Bog Owl four times! Rogers says his book is “a fantasy-adventure story told in an American accent.” Well, the accent is what makes these books hilarious — you’ve got to meet the Feechies!

The story takes place on the imaginary island of Corenwald, which is surrounded by wild, vine-tangled marshland and swamps. The River Tam runs through the center of the island, separating the world of “civilizers” who live in the established town of Tambluff (ruled by a monarch, King Darrow) from the less tame regions.

Our hero is Aidan Errolson, a 12-year-old boy who is stuck tending sheep in his father’s pasture at Longleaf Manor. He longs for adventure, yet the closest he gets to it is writing letters to the king on saw palmetto paper. “I specialize in dragon-slaying,” Aidan writes, “but would be happy to fight pirates or invading barbarians if circumstances require…I am at your service and eagerly await your reply.”

To pass the time, he composes lullabies to his lambs:

The gator glides along the Tam
Just thirty strides away.
But fear thee not, my little lamb,
Your shepherd’s here by night and day.

As soon as he finishes his song, the air is filled with the piercing call of the bog owl — a sound that “began as the sharp, short laugh of a monkey or hyena, then became a growling bark — almost as deep as a hound’s bay — and finally a wolfish howl. If the wilderness could speak with a single voice, it would sound like this. Ha-ha-ha-hrawffff-wooooooooo. . . Ha-ha-ha-hrawffff-wooooooooo.”

That sound — that calling — begins the great adventure that lies ahead for Aidan in all three books of The Wilderking Trilogy. And that sound is what makes kids love to hear these books read out loud as a family. It’s noisy reading. My husband has entertained everyone in our family with the bark of the bog owl.

Meanwhile, back at his father’s manor, a mysterious visitor arrives, Bayard the Truthspeaker. He summons the sons of Errol, and says the time has come for the Wilderking to arise and save the nation from destruction. He wants to see Aidan! (If you’re thinking of the prophet Samuel anointing the boy David, you’re close). When his brothers finally round up Aidan from the pasture, the old man sees him and speaks, “Hail to the Wilderking, Corenwald’s deliverer.”

Now, I can’t tell you what happens because you’ve got to read it — but there are parts that remind me of favorite books from my childhood — The Chronicles of Narnia, Tom Sawyer, and Robin Hood. All taking place in a south Georgia setting told by an author who knows and loves the Bible. No preaching going on here — just good solid character growth in all the right places.

Here’s an interview with Jonathan Rogers at Christianbook.com. When asked what his inspiration was for writing The Wilderking Trilogy, he answered:

I think I answer that question differently every time I’m asked it because there are so many things that inspire me or give me ideas. I read Wild at Heart right before I started writing these books, and that was an important influence. I was thinking about the role of wildness; I kept thinking, “I want my boys to know these things about authentic manhood.” But you can’t very well sit an eight-year-old down with Wild at Heart and tell him to start reading!

The swampy wilderness of South Georgia and Florida was definitely an inspiration. It’s not one of those settings you see all the time in adventure stories. I’ve always wanted to write something that was set in that world—as it turned out, it’s an imaginary world, but it still looks and sounds and smells like my native wilderness.

You can learn more in the rest of the interview or on the author’s Wilderking website. In the June 15 issue of Heads-Up newsletter at homeschoolblogger.com, Wayne S. Walker’s article, Now Choose a Good Book, Relax, and Read Away, lists what he feels are the best 120 children’s books, all of which he’s read to his family. Not surprisingly, Jonathan Rogers’ The Bark of the Bog Owl made the cut. See for yourself here — you’ll have to scroll down a bit.

Enjoy this new children’s classic! And if you like it, write to the author at his website. Or you can write to his publisher, Broadman & Holman. I’ll tell you my thoughts on Book 2 tomorrow, and rumor has it that Book 3 will be out in spring 2006.

P.S. I just discovered another review that is 50,000 times better than mine. It’s so beautifully written, she makes me want to read the book again! You can read it here at Children’s Publishing News.