Orris and Timble: Star Stories

"Tender and authentic—a worthy conclusion to a wondrous series." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

In a soaring conclusion to a moving trilogy, national treasure Kate DiCamillo shows how friendship, trust, and stories—lived and shared—transform us.

Orris and Timble are friends. Orris is a rat, Timble is an owl, and they meet each night in an old barn to share stories. One night, Timble asks a fateful question: “Why don’t you ever leave the barn, Orris?” Strong and brave, the owl offers to carry the rat on his back. Orris will be able to see it all for himself—the rivers and fish, roads and farms, mountains and coyotes. But why would Orris leave the barn when all he needs is there: his books, the moon and stars above, and Timble’s nightly tales of high-flying adventure? What would you do if you had the chance to fly? In the final installment of an exquisitely illustrated and deeply felt early-reader trilogy, two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo reveals how trust and friendship can lift us into our best lives.Unlikely companions wing their way into readers’ hearts—and also the sky—in this trilogy closer.. . .Tender and authentic—a worthy conclusion to a wondrous series.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

As a balm to frenetic, quick-cut storytelling; as a soul-filling friendship tale; as the satisfying conclusion to a beautiful ­series—there are endless reasons to fall in love with this early chapter book.
—School Library Journal (starred review)Kate DiCamillo is one of America’s most beloved storytellers. She is a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, a two-time Newbery Medalist, and the author of Orris and Timble: The Beginning and Orris and Timble: Lost and Found. She lives in Minneapolis.

Carmen Mok is the award-winning illustrator of Orris and Timble: The Beginning and Orris and Timble: Lost and Found, as well as several acclaimed picture books, with experience in product design, hand-lettering, and graphic design. She studied studio art at the University of Waterloo and craft design at Sheridan College, both in Ontario. Carmen Mok lives in Toronto.The old barn was abandoned. Only a rat named Orris lived there.

Chapter One: Not Alone
The rat had made himself a nest from the pages of discarded books.
Arranged around the nest were his treasures: a foil-wrapped Top-Notch Butterscotch candy, a velvet slipper, a yellow marble, and an Imperial sardine can with a picture of a fish king on its label.
Orris lived alone.
But he was not alone.
At the end of each day, an owl named Timble visited the barn.
Timble came at dusk. He sat in the barn window and called, “Orris? Orris?”

The rat left his nest. He went and joined the owl.
The rat and the owl sat side by side in the window of the barn.
They talked.
Timble told Orris what he had seen as he flew through the world.
And Orris told Timble stories and facts and poems he had read in the old books left in the barn.
The rat and the owl talked of trees and rivers, planets and stars, princesses and kings.
Sometimes, they didn’t talk.
Sometimes, they simply sat together and looked up at the stars.
The rat and the owl were friends.