12-05-2025
Free Bird: Flaco The Owl's Dreams Take Flight By Christine Mott & Ofra Layla Isler — Review
This delightful children's book tells the story of Flaco the owl's last year of life, living as a wild owl in New York City's Central Park, and reveals the deeper meaning of what it means to live free.
As a New Yorker, I am well aware of – and proud of – its long history of celebrity birds. There was 'Barry' a female Barred Owl who lived in Central Park; 'Rocky', the Northern Saw-whet Owl rescued from her imprisonment inside the Rockefeller Christmas tree (read more here); Palemale, a red-tailed hawk who nested on a Fifth Avenue balcony overlooking Central Park for more than 20 years; George, a male red-winged blackbird who charmed a newly-unemployed and despairing man to start birding and to write a book about him, and then there's Flaco. Unlike these other celebrity birds, who were wild native species, Flaco was different. Flaco was an adult male Eurasian Eagle-Owl, one of the largest owl species in the world (hence, the species' name) that is widespread across Europe and Asia.
Flaco was born in captivity in a North Carolina bird park before he was transferred to the Central Park Zoo where he lived in a tiny bus-stop sized enclosure for 12 years – until a mysterious someone cut his cage open in the middle of a February night, allowing him to escape. This is when Flaco the owl's adventures as a free bird began.
In the illustrated children's book, Free Bird: Flaco the Owl's Dreams Take Flight (Lantern Publishing and Media, 2025), award-winning author, Wall Street trained-attorney and animal rights advocate Christine Mott, tells the inspiring true story of Flaco the owl as he dreams of flying free only to have the opportunity to escape his tiny zoo cage suddenly materialize. We the readers follow Flaco as he evades capture by zoo staff and police, as he builds strength and develops flying skills by navigating the vast canyons of Manhattan, learns how to hunt and to make a life for himself in Central Park, and makes thousands of admiring human friends along the way.
Written for children between 4 and 8 years old, this book captures how we all have dreams – whether you're a child or a nonhuman animal – and how important it is to fulfill these dreams. Both children and adults will cheer for Flaco as he chases adventure and follows his dreams. As such, this book is a wonderful addition to a classroom discussion, a library story time or a bedtime story. The book not only shares Flaco's story, but it provides an opportunity for children to see the world through the eyes of an owl, thereby awakening them to the idea of conserving wild creatures who share their world with us and encouraging them to develop empathy for wildlife (particularly for birds). The book also uses Flaco's story to teach children to find their own inner strength and to reach for their own dreams, regardless of how challenging or impossible those dreams may seem to be.
Free Bird is illustrated by Ofra Layla Isler, founder of Art in Rescue, which uses hand drawn art to honor the work of animal rescue. Half of the author's royalties generated by the sale of Free Bird are donated to the Wild Bird Fund, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that rehabilitates sick, injured and orphaned wildlife and releases them back into the wilds of New York City. (Full disclosure: I've financially supported The Wild Bird Fund since shortly after its inception). Such charitable support makes this lovely book a though-provoking children's story as well as a meaningful way to contribute to urban wildlife conservation. For the adults who read this book aloud to children, you will find a brief listing of owl facts in the back of the book to teach you a few things too.
I highly recommended this book for young animal lovers, nature enthusiasts, and for anyone who believes in sharing the power of pursuing one's dreams with children.
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