A Guide Book to the Great Tree

Guardians of Ga'Hoole Companion Book #1

by Kathryn Huang, Kathryn Huang

Finally, for all free folk of air, land, and water seeking knowledge of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree; its ways, its days, its heroes known and unknown... a Guide!

Studious by nature, fortunate to have been present at the most glorious moments in the tree's recent history, and above all honored to count as friends its most ardent champions, I, Otulissa, have decided to write a compendium, a catchall -a guide, in short- to the history, life, and spirit of the tree. Pause a moment before the next adventure begins to read of its natural history, its origin, and yearly changes. Read of its lesser-known heroes: of Joss, brave messenger of legends; of the brothers Ifghar and Ezylryb and the treachery that bound them; of Theo, the peaceful warrior.

Genres: Fantasy, Animals, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Childrens, Adventure

170 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Spencer Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was quite interesting. If you want to know more about the tree, then read this book.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A failed attempt to write some sort of companion book. It is written before the series ends so fital information isn't included and the rest is an incoherent pile of information that was for the most part already known.

[Eagle Girl2000 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series is so good, I own every book so far!!!!

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great guide book to a great series!

[Abigail Danfora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fun to read; offered more insight into Ga'hoolian history and legends.

[Kryptomite · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started this book, I assumed it would essentially just be a review of what these books are about. What is a tree? What is an owl? What is a Ga'hoole? But it was much better than that. It goes into more depth on a lot of things that the books don't really cover, as well as telling stories from the perspective of quite a few owls that didn't have many stories written on them. In the end it breathes quite a bit more life into the books that I read prior.


I will say, it does have that one notable screw-up in lore. Lyse's sister dies from a coyote attack in this book, where as, in his own book, she dies in a fire. So that's awkward, and has likely haunted the author for quite some time. It was a bizarre choice to not only write a guidebook before the series was done, but also have another person write it for you. But it is what it is. Otherwise, it's essentially flawless if you like the series.

Reading through some of the reviews, I think a few people may have mixed up this book with Lost tales of Ga'hoole.

[Beka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some fun "facts" about life at the great tree as well as a few stories about some favorite owls.

[Carina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awsome guide to the Guardians of Ga'hoole seris, and it is one of my favourite books ever!

[Zbehn · Rating 5 out of 5]

gave great insight about the life of Ga'Hoole and probably sparked some people's imaginations.

[Claire (Sunbee) · Rating 2 out of 5]

If it's been a while since you last read the series, this is a good refresher to the world and the characters. I personally haven't read the books for about two years and wanted to finally finish books 13 - 15.

As a companion piece to the book containing the lore and other events, this is lackluster, but as a refresher book, before you delve back into the world, this does its job! I don't recommend it though - you can go through the entire series without ever reading this and you would never feel like you've missed out on something.

[Dunwich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun companion to the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. It provides a lot of thorough insight to how the world of these owls works and provides a good index of the characters as well as the owls' vocabulary. A must-read for all fans of Ga'Hoole.

[Caroline Shelatz · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're reading this right after finishing the series, it adds absolutely nothing other than 3 short, previously unknown stories that really didn't pertain to the rest of the series. However I guess it could be helpful as a refresher if it's been awhile since you read the books.

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

The faces of the great tree was the best chapter, the other parts were okay.

[Gabrielle Belisle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot holes galore.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it!

[Shanna L Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like it, couple problems tho

First of all, great book. However, there are a few flaws, the first being with the excessive lengths of one chapter. The stories chapter was so long and so much like Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole that I felt as if it was simply an extension of said book. However, the other parts of the book were absolutely amazing and fit in very well with everything from the main 15 books. However, she should have waited and written the final three books before publishing this one, because a lot happens in River of Wind, Exile, and The War of the Ember.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

*In order to really understand anything in this book, you would have had to read the whole Guardians of Ga'Hoole series by Kathryn Lasky.

I really liked this book because it gave me a lot of helpful information that I had forgotten or never known before. It offered some insight on some characters that explained things I didn't understand until I read this book which made the other books have more meaning.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A companion book to the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. It is an interesting and fun book but it condradicts some details that appear in the series maybe because it wasn't actually written by the author. Also the tale of Ifghar is completely different from the recently published prequel to the series, Rise of a Legend.

[Jeri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the switch of narrators in this book. By having a beloved character become the narrator, it made the book and closing of the series more intimate. This book added a lot of peripheral knowledge about the world of Ga'Hoole, and I would recommend it to anyone who has read the series.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book (although not part of the novel series) is a great addition to the family with "facts" about the life and history of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree!!!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the series books, but still fun.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this series with my dad a while ago. I would rate the whole series 5 stars. Although, I reecho end this series to people...8 and under.

[Kate R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

trying to check out what the new movie is all about before it opens. Kind of like the redwall books but probably written for a younger age group.

[Sophie Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is a great addition to the guardian series. I also learned some new things about the series too.I'm glad I read this book.

[Steff S (The Bookish Owl) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some really interesting extra information further rounding out an already incredibly detailed series and world.

[Zachariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very helpful guide for the first half of the series. However, it would be nice to have a second one for all of the copious amounts of information given to us in the last books.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasnt a story but it was very interesting to read as I was very interested in the Gardians of GaHoole series

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love this series!

[Casey Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously not as good as the actual stories. A lot of filler mixed in with some cool backstories. If you love the world of GaHoole then you'll want to read it just to know all you can.