The reading owl

This weekend, we went to Cliveden, a National Trust property that is not too far  from home. There is a lot to see and enjoy for the whole family and I was happily surprised to see Wolfie being enthusiastic for even the least children oriented attractions. But I digress and these are for other posts. There is one section of Cliveden that is both fun for kids and seemelessly educational. It's a small playground with wooden sculptures of characters from children fiction. At its entrance, there is this owl, sitting on a pile of classic books, eading one of them. There is a squirrel (I think) next to him, a hedgehog on the cover of one of the books and a toad (or a frog?) underneath. I'm not sure if these are animal characters from a specific book (tell me in the comments if you know), but I find it a subtle and intelligent invitation to literacy. And there is nothing cooler than a wise old owl reading books.