Twit and Howlet and the Balloon by Barbara Jones

I recently discovered these wonderful owl illustrations from the children's story book "Twit and Howlet and the Balloon" from 1970 written by Barbara Jones. 

The story goes like this - “The Owls were a large family of uncles, aunts, cousins and Grandma, who lived in an oak-tree called The Pines. Howlet and Twit, the twins, were the youngest of them, and sometimes they were indulged and sometimes they were sat upon, like everyone else”. The twins build a hot air balloon and win a French balloon race with it by accidentally fly across the Channel. In the end, they get home in time to see themselves with the cup on television with rest of the family. It's a sweet story book, but the pictures are even better.

This book with amazing pictures doesn't come easy and doesn't come cheap. There are only a few copies available and if you are really lucky to find one, it won't come without an expensive price tag. You'll be looking at price close to $1000, currently available at Abebooks.

{images via here}