Heart felt tale of cat bunnies‏

Isobel Knowles and Cat Rabbit are two young women with imagination. They are the creators of ‘Owl Know How.’ A book about solving problems.

The two ladies met when Isobel ,an animation artist was asked to animate Cat’s (a Tassie girl from Port Sorell and textile artist) exhibition.

At the launch of the exhibition the girls were approached by Thames and Hudson to write a book about Cats’ characters and so ‘Owl know how’ was born.

If the girls chose owls because of their attributed wisdom it was subconscious. They simply love the little creatures.

The story is set in an world peopled by plush or rather ‘felt’ bunnies who find their ideal existence punctured literally by the ‘branch monsters’ or so they appear to them and no doubt the younger readers. To us with less of that innocent imagination the branch monsters are simply what we would call a tree. To battle the branch monsters the reproductive abilities of rabbits are harnessed but in this case they are not producing their own kind but instead mass producing owls! Owls who have the ability to fly above the branches holding up the clouds and so providing the solution to the rabbits woes.

Our heroine is a rabbit called Cornelia, and as our artist ladies say she is deliberately dressed in red to stand out. In fact each character is noted by a defining feature, the male lead, Orvi is recognised by a hoody. Similarly each character is given a job to do in solving the problem of the branch monsters. Here one of the girl’s mum was influential by telling the girls the tasks should be simple things children could imagine themselves doing. The effect is co-operation with all doing their own job to produce the owls to hold up the clouds and so fly their town well away from the branch monsters.

From a problem that seems an enormous one with branch monsters intruding on the fluffy soft cloud existence of the rabbits the solution is simply achieved when everyone co-operates and so this book has a message for young children that problems can be solved by working together .

The girls don’t want to appear preachy but if the positive message of working together to solve problems is heard by children they are happy.

For those wishing to purchase a facsimile of one of the wonderful intricate characters as a limited edition collectable, rather than (unlike the owls in the story) a mass produced! Toy you can go to this site:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/owlknowhow

The good news for fans of the book are that the girls intend to collaborate on a project again and there may even possibly be a sequel or at least something in a similar vein.

Another important statement the girls also give us is evidenced in the character creations themselves made from recycled cardboard and felt.

Ironically from recycled materials the Cat and Isobel have created a unique and fresh feature of publishing. The book also includes an owl pattern for those who would like to attempt to emulate Cornelia’s creations.

You can meet Cat and Isobel at Fullers Bookshop Hobart 17 May 2012 – 5:30pm and Launceston 19 May 2012 – 2:00pm.
Paula Xiberras