In Search of Hoot Owl

As I was talking with a group of friends a few years ago and our conversation about the used bookstore owned by one member of the group began to lag, I tossed out the rather innocuous question, “ What was your favorite book when you were a child?”

As we went around the circle telling about our favorite childhood books, I was amazed at the variety of books mentioned: “Charlotte’s Web,” “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “Wrinkle in Time,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Winnie the Pooh,” “The Lorax,” Nancy Drew mysteries, and, announced with embarrassment, “Little Black Sambo.”

When it got around to me, I was greeted with blank stares when I said “Hoot-Owl.” Now admittedly, I was probably older than the rest of the people in the group, but I was still shocked that they had never even heard of my favorite childhood book.

I told them about the book and shared that I didn’t have a copy, nor had I seen a copy since 1942 when I was in the third grade. The subject died for lack of information, and probably interest, if the truth were told.

Thus began my search for “Hoot-Owl.”

Where is “Hoot-Owl”? 

As our group broke up, my friend who owned the used bookstore said she would check all of her sources, locate a copy of “Hoot-Owl,” and get back to me.

About a month later, I saw her at a meeting, and she informed me that she could not find “Hoot-Owl” or evidence of “Hoot-Owl” anywhere, but would, of course, keep looking.

I then googled “Hoot-Owl.” No such luck. “Hoot Owl-Master of Disguise” or “Hoot Owl Man” wouldn’t work. Where in the heck was “Hoot-Owl”?

Or was there ever a “Hoot-Owl”?

For awhile after I’d run into members of the original discussion group, they would generally try to suppress a chuckle of disbelief, and say something like “Has ‘Hoot-Owl’ ever turned up?”

Losing Faith in “Hoot-Owl”

In situations like this, especially at age 83, seeds of memory doubt often creep in.

Of course I remember the story. I read the book probably 50 times. I could almost rewrite the book!

And I can remember taking it out of the old book cabinet at Prairie View School (the one room school I attended) and carrying it home to read for the umpteenth time.

Here’s the story of “Hoot Owl”:

A boy, Johnny, was the son of a pilgrim/settler family that lived in a cabin on the edge of a forest.

One warm summer day, Johnny went to play at the edge of the forest, but got preoccupied with his play and wandered further and further into the forest, finally getting totally lost.

He was eventually found by an Indian father, whose family lived far away, on the other side of the forest.

 To cut to the chase, Johnny went to live with this family that had a boy just Johnny’s age named Beaver Boy. The family gave Johnny the Indian name of Hoot-Owl. And on it goes…

But did I dream this? Did it really exist? Or maybe I was using the wrong title for the book. Was it really “Hoot-Owl”? Or maybe just  “The Lost Boy Who Became an Indian?”

An Amazing Discovery

As my bookstore friend kept hitting dead ends, and mentioning “Hoot-Owl” to my siblings or Prairie View School contemporaries didn’t get a rise out of anyone, I had just about given up ever resolving the mystery, and admitting to being a head case.

For some unknown reason (serendipity, I guess), I ran across an interview on the internet with Charlotte Hinger, an author of mystery books. And here is how the first part went.

Interviewer: What is the very first book you remember reading and loving?

Charlotte Hinger: “Hoot-Owl”! It was the very first book I ever read. I was in the first grade and really fed up with Dick, Jane, Spot, and that damn ball. I didn’t know little kids could just go read another book on their own.

This was followed by a description of the story.

So, I learned that “Hoot-Owl” was written by Mabel Guinnip LaRue, illustrated by Kate Seredy, and published by MacMillan in 1936.

The prodigal book had been found! It was not a dream. I was sane again.

Looking for a Copy

Knowing the author helped me dig down and actually find reference to the book on the Internet, and I was again shocked by what I found on eBay (Click photo to see a larger copy):

$6,400 for a copy of my favorite childhood book! Sure it’s in “good “ condition, and sure, it’s probably an original copy and cover.

But it seems so unfair to be so heavily penalized for simply wanting a copy of one’s beloved childhood book.

The Bottom Line

I’m still hunting an affordable copy of “Hoot-Owl.”   Perhaps it will look like this, a little later edition like the one I read as a third grader:

Maybe I can find one in a relative’s attic? Or at an obscure used bookstore somewhere. Or where I least expect it. Who knows?

But you can be assured that if I ever get a copy, I’ll have that discussion group over again, and relish their sheer amazement and absence of blank stares and disbelief chuckles when I hold “Hoot-Owl” up for them to actually see.

The moral of this story is, if you have a favorite book, be sure to keep a copy of it.