Max, a young boy, and Marla, a barn owl, are best friends. One day, Max decides to build a kite and he draws his face on it, so that he and Marla can “fly together”. Marla is not interested and he soon discovers that she is afraid to fly. They go to bed that night, each dreaming different dreams – Max dreams of Marla flying next to his kite and Marla dreams of Max and she quietly sitting together on the couch.

The next morning, they see leaves everywhere after the night’s storm. They go outside to rake the leaves and find his kite, which Marla finds when a gust of wind lifts it into the air with her on it! With Max’s shouts of encouragement, Marla takes flight and realizes that she is a natural. They triumphantly head to bed that night, both dreaming of Marla flying next to Max’s kite. And, they wake up to do just that!

This very sweet story of friendship, fears and gentle encouragement is accompanied by beautiful pen and ink illustrations that flow beautifully with the story. Buy this book (and the others in the set) and share it with all your students.