Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl

by Stacey O'Brien

Book Overview

On Valentine's Day 1985, biologist Stacey O'Brien adopted Wesley, a baby barn owl with an injured wing who could not have survived in the wild. Over the next nineteen years, O'Brien studied Wesley's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416551735
• ISBN13: 9781416551737
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 229 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Amazing little life.

This book draws you in - you want it to never end. Of course we all eventually die, but you don't want it for Wesley. So tragic his person became ill - Googled Wesley and was shocked at the 'circus' created around him. Somehow it seems 'he' should have been treated with more respect/reserve. You really become involved with the owl and his care taker.

I loved this book so much!

I happened upon this book while looking for non-fiction owl books for my kids. Based on the reviews, I decided to buy it and I am so glad I did. What an amazing book! The other reviews are spot on. This book is funny, heartwarming, educational, and yes, it did make me cry because I fell in love with Wesley, too. Stacey is an amazing storyteller and I love her style. She does have a warning about Wesley's death and tells you to stop reading at that point in the chapter if you don't want to read about it. I've recommended this book to all my animal-loving friends.

Who thought an owl could be so lovable?

I wish there were more stars to give this book! I was caught from the first page by this wonderful story. How I admire this young woman for her bravery, caring, kindness, intelligence, work ethics, and on and on! I fell in love with Wesley! And, as Stacey said would happen, I cried when he died. Oh, yes!! There is a heaven for our wonderful animal loves - and we will see them again. It's just the getting on without them that is hard. I still tear up over my beautiful Juanita, gone 2 years now. I recommend this book for anyone - not just animal lovers. Everyone will read about a true love between beings that is so life confirming. Bless you, Stacey, for sharing!

An eye opening and tender read.

I can't add much to what the other reviewers have already said. If you're an animal lover of any stripe then Wesley the Owl is a book you'll want to spend some time with. Stacey O'Brien's love and affection for her friend Wesley comes out on every page. Animal friends have much to offer their human companions though I've never thought much about birds as pets that can actually offer companionship. That was my ignorance operating and Ms O'Brien has set me straight. Thank you Stacey. If you have children read Wesley to them and experience the book as a family. You won't regret it. Peace always

Thank you for sharing The Way of the Owl to the world!

Stacey, thank you for sharing Wesley with the world. You are a lucky woman to have had such a wonderful and loving friend. You mentioned that Wesley may have been an angel but I truly believe that you were his! The book is amazing; I couldn't put it down. Stacey's style of writing is from the heart. If you love animals, this is a must read.

A tear jerker ... and much, much more

Biologist Stacey O'Brien was working at an owl lab at CalTech in 1985 when a four-day-old baby barn owl with a permanently nerve damaged wing arrived at the lab. O'Brien promised to take care of the owlet, and this book is a journal of the 19 years (and 28,000 live mice) they spent together. O'Brien is a scientist and a humanist, and her book is a wonderful account of the relationship as seen from both points of view. For example, this extract is from the first chapter as it appears on the Simon and Schuster website: "Another attribute that makes owls unique is their brain structure, which is completely different from that of most vertebrates. The barn owl's cortex is mostly dedicated to processing sound rather than visual images. I wondered how that would affect the way the owl interacted with me and my visually oriented domestic world. He must have a very different viewpoint, foreign to us.... [It] would be challenging to learn to live with this nonsocial animal. Owls don't stay in flocks, but individuals are devoted to their mates, living a mostly solitary life together. "Not only are owls interesting creatures historically and physiologically, but their temperament is also unique. Owls are playful and inquisitive. A friend of mine knew someone who had rescued a little screech owl and she described it as acting like a kitten with wings. She said the owl would fly up, then pounce on all kinds of objects exactly as a kitten does. Owls could also be creative. Sometimes I'd be walking by an office in the Caltech Owl Lab and see an owl making up his own game -- throwing a pencil off a desk just to watch it fall and roll on the floor, then flying off the desk himself, twisting in the air to get a good angle, then pouncing on the pencil." O'Brien has promised to maintain a blog devoted to the book, to Wesley and his memory, and the growth in our understanding of animal intelligence: "The owl's brain is very complex and scientists are starting to realize that many species of birds are so highly intelligent that they rival the intelligence of apes and small children. The most famous of these birds is, of course, Alex the African Gray, may he rest in peace. Ravens and crows have been found to be toolmakers and problem solvers who do not even need trial and error to figure out solutions to problems. And, dare I say it, Wesley showed a similar level of intelligence. I'm looking forward to discussing these matters and many others in this blog." I'm looking forward to following along; her analysis of Bernd Heinrich's Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds is particularly fine. And she's not forgetting Wesley, of course. Neither will I. Robert C. Ross 2008

Beautiful memoir

Working as a student researcher at CalTech, Stacey O'Brien brought a four-day-old owlet home from the lab and named him Wesley. For the next nineteen years, he would be her constant companion and beloved friend. This is a beautiful memoir about the relationship that O'Brien and Wesley developed. O'Brien writes not only as Wesley's besotted owner, but also from the perspective of a biologist, which gives the book a depth and authority that a lot of "my beloved pet" stories lack. This book was fascinating, filled to the brim with exciting facts about owls, but also some very funny anecdotes - such as when Wesley decided that he wanted to learn to swim. It was a really moving, lovely book, and everyone I recommended it to has loved it.