About the Holiday

National Puzzle Day was established in 2002 by Jodi Jill, a syndicated newspaper puzzle maker and professional quiz maker, to share her love of puzzles. Doing puzzles—from jigsaw puzzles to crossword puzzles and word searches to Sudoku—is beneficial for your brain. Pondering clues or patterns improves language development and vocabulary, memory, and problem-solving skills. And you can’t beat a good puzzle for fun! Doing puzzles with friends or as a family is a terrific way to spend time together and a great way for kids to practice their social skills. To celebrate today gather the family and some puzzles and enjoy a family game night!

Owl Aboard! Piece it Together Family Puzzle

Illustrated by Wednesday Kirwan

Sometimes when I open a box of books from a publisher, I find a surprise. Imagine my delight when I opened a box from Chronicle and found, nestled in with the books, a jigsaw puzzle! Owl Aboard! isn’t just a regular jigsaw puzzle, either, but a family puzzle, one with two sizes of pieces, so everyone—older kids and adults plus little ones—can work on it together.

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The top half of the adorable picture, in which a night train carrying owls doing all kinds of activities steams down the track under a starry sky, is created with the larger pieces just right for younger kids. For older kids and adults, smaller pieces make up the bottom half, where two sweet owls are having a picnic. In the middle the conductor gives a hearty wave to puzzlers as they attach the two halves by way of special slots in the large pieces that accommodate the smaller tabs of the little pieces. All together, the puzzle makes a perfect way for families to have fun together during these cold winter months.

Wednesday Kirwan’s lovely color palette and expressive owls make for a puzzle that will charm all ages and spark excited guesses and discussion about the finished picture.

An enchanting 60-piece puzzle to add to family game nights or for siblings to do together, Owl Aboard! will be a favorite to make again and again. Alternatively, the puzzle would make a sweet addition to a child’s bedroom if glued to a backing.

Ages 3 and Up

Chronicle Books, 2020 | ISBN 978-1452174655

You can connect with Wednesday Kirwan on Instagram.