Behind the Pages: Crafting the Wisdom of The Know It Owl and the Axolotl
Welcome to Terri’s Tales of Tails!
You are probably reading this if you have read my book, The Know It Owl and the Axolotl. Or perhaps you were just searching for information and came across these blogs for The Know It Owl Series. I had never even heard of this unique and special animal before 2024. A special eight-year-old girl in my life told me about it. Then her father came up with the catchphrase after I saw an axolotl in person at an aquarium in the Canary Islands.
Owl helps out a new featured animal in each book. I focus on non-domesticated animals and highlight what makes them special. Though Axolotls have become popular as a pet in recent years, I focus on its conservation. Read on for some behind-the-scenes info and bonus materials.
Terri
“If children grow up not knowing about nature and appreciating it, they will not understand it, and if they don’t understand it, they won’t protect it, and if they don’t protect it, who will?”
Why Owls?
I have always felt a connection to owls because they are nocturnal, and I am naturally more nocturnal. My personal nickname for years was Night Owl. I named my publishing company Burning the Midnight Oil Publishing because most of my work was done around or after midnight. I recently came across a Facebook memory from 2012 of me wearing an Owl shirt and it referenced books on it. Now I see Owls everywhere since creating this series.
Owls are often linked with wisdom and knowledge. It’s common for an owl to be mascots for universities, military intelligence, and movie characters. The main, recurring character needed to portray wisdom of the entire animal kingdom.
Why axolotls?
Having never heard of them before 2024, I was most fascinated by their ability to regenerate, more so than other animals that can, and without scarring. The huge decrease of their population in the wild also caught my attention. They are also adorable looking as the book points out.
How is this book different than the rest of the series?
Every book has a theme of animal conservation and non-domesticated animals. As stated in the I’d make a great pet spread, axolotls are a little tricky when it comes to having them as pets. Their pet appeal initially contributed some to their decline in the wild. Though now, they are believed to be bred just for pets to include more desirable colors. They also can be harmed if touched by humans, so there isn’t much interacting with them. It’s also feared because they are a ‘trendy’ animal, that is the popularity wears off, then people with axolotls as pets may change their mind. It is even illegal to have axolotls as pets in some areas.
I have focused more on the conservation side. The many reasons for their declining numbers and why it’s important to not let these animals go extinct.
As stated in my Dear Reader letter in the back of this book…
I am seeing a lot of information coming out about possible scientific discoveries and breakthroughs axolotls may be a part of because of their unique ability to regenerate. This is a very current trend, both with that information and their rapidly declining numbers in the wild.
How did you choose Axolotl’s color?
Paula, the illustrator, and I tried out a few different colors for Axolotl, our featured animal. I didn’t want the white and pink albino one, since that is very rare in the wild and the popular coloration in games, toys, and pets. The most common colors in the wild are brown or mottled, but those were really hard to see on the page. We went with a beautiful blue-purple color.
What is Owl’s catchphrase?
With each featured animal, Owl uses a different catchphrase… a few words to basically express “what are you talking about??” but in a nicer way. Each catchphrase must meet one of three criteria.
1. Rhymes with the animal name (What a tale, Beluga Whale. Don’t make me laugh. Giraffe. Get a clue, Kangaroo.)
2. Has alliteration with the featured animal name or some fun play on words (Axolotl nonsense. Otter Oughta Know.)
3. Is a play on a physical characteristic or sound of the featured animal (That’s a hoot, Owl.)
I have several more animals I really want to write about, but I haven’t quite come up with Owl’s catchphrase… yet.
How did The Know It Owl Series come about?
I came up with the idea for The Know It Owl Series in May of 2020 when I wrote the Otter manuscript. In 2021, I wrote 5 more manuscripts for this series with different featured animals (including Kangaroo). Then, they sat in a computer file, collecting dust for a couple of years while I was finishing up my Oscar and Emmy Series. It was September of 2023 when Duncan, a member of my author team (I have a support system in place to assist me in a variety of roles) asked what I would work on next after Oscar and Emmy. I showed him multiple manuscripts of a variety of topics. We decided to dust off The Know It Owl Series.
I spent about a month researching possible illustrators (ones I’ve had worked with, ones who had experiences drawing owls or other animals, ones whose style resonated with me, ones who came highly recommended, etc). After emailing back and forth with my short list, I commissioned two to create how they viewed Owl after submitting them several pages of a manuscript to show his personality. I then asked my team for feedback, and overwhelmingly, the choice was Paula’s owl. Paula Piechna was able to capture the personality and wit of Owl that we were looking for. Paula would begin illustrations in the spring, giving me a few months to select which manuscripts to revise and edit.
With Oscar and Emmy, I released one book at a time, but sometimes that meant 12 to 18 months lapsed between releases. I didn’t want my readers to outgrow the series before it even began, so I decided to release 4 at once. That way if a reader really loved a book, they didn’t have to wait a year or longer for the next book. It was suggested I needed an origin story for Owl… what made him decide to help educate and fact check animals from all over the world? Then, I wrote about the fledgling owl and chose 3 other animals to feature.
The decision to work on 4 books at the same time ended up being the best for the series. It was a collaborative effort between myself, my team, my editor, and my illustrator. Deciding the purpose of the series and making sure each manuscript followed that, fine tuning elements in one book and making sure the others included those, polishing Owl’s catchphrase in each book, working out how many ‘snarky’ speech bubbles Owl would have per book so he didn’t come off mean, agreeing how many times Owl exposes his softer side to each featured animal, balancing the types of featured animals with their location and personalities… all of these elements and more were able to best be adapted by working on several books at once. The illustrator also did the thumbnails for each books before starting colored illustrations to make sure every part of each book was cohesive and supportive of the series and its mission.
19 months after the decision was made to make this series, I released the first 4 books together on June 3, 2025. The best part is, books 5 and 6 are already being illustrated and will be released soon after. There are many more ideas in the pipeline, if people enjoy reading about The Know It Owl as much as I enjoy writing them.
How do you craft so much wisdom into 32 pages?
Each book contains 12 spreads of facts, including if they’d make a great pet. Some spreads contain multiple facts surrounding that topic. Paula also adds factual details into some drawings (like skeletal or magnifying details). So much research is done before writing each book, and there were always more facts than could fit into 12 spreads. I decided to add a Fast Facts page, adding 5 bonus facts.
Paula incorporated some popular interactive features like Spot the Hidden Animals, Maze, Measuring, and Draw with Owl. If you need the answer key to spot the hidden animals, let me know.
After the Dear Reader letter, I also include an infographic to show where the featured animal is on the endangered list, a world map showing its location, a photograph that I’ve taken of the featured animal (if possible), and the primary sources I used for research. I take many, many photos of all these animals since I try to go to as many different zoos, aquariums, and conservations places as I can with my travels. I’ll include extra photos and videos in my blogs. I select just one for each book to also highlight the different zoos and aquariums I do visit.
Whenever possible, I will always try to seek out animals in their natural environment. I also understand the importance of supporting reputable zoos and aquariums who are involved with:
research (internally and collaboratively with organizations)
captive breeding programs (to help preserve endangered species and maintain genetic diversity)
habitat restoration (projects to improve the natural environments for animals)
educational programs (to spread awareness about the importance of conservation)
These zoos and aquariums are paramount, all while giving the public a chance to view and appreciate these beautiful animals up close who may never have the means to see most of the animals in nature.
Bonus photos of axolotls taken by me
The axolotl photos below are all taken by me, Terri Sabol.
The first four photos were taken at Poema del Mar Aquarium in Gran Canaria in November 2024 when my cruise ship stopped in the Canary Islands.
The rest of the photos were taken at Dudley Zoo, England in August 2025.
Draw an axolotl with Owl
The last page of the ebook is a bonus page of how to draw the featured animal. It will also be included in future print versions of the book (hardcovers or box sets). When the paperback is printed by Amazon, that page is replaced with Amazon’s barcode of where it was printed. I don’t want you to miss out if that is the version you have, so here is that page. If you do draw the featured animal and post it on Instagram, please tag me @terrisabol and the illustrator @piechna_illustrations so we can see your works of art.
Are you available for school author visits?
Yes, I am! As a former teacher, I love to visit schools and talk about my books. I’m very excited to see this series in schools. I am very prepared for school visits with professionally made lesson plans for each book. I also have a large moveable Great Horned Owl puppet. In school visits, I will play the part of Owl and have a volunteer (a librarian, teacher, or students) play the part of the featured animal while holding a smaller stuffed animal.
Please visit https://app.bookanauthor.com/shop/listing/terrisabolvisit
If you are a teacher (home or school) and are interested in the lesson plans, you can buy them here.
Lesson Plans
Where can I find even more facts about axolotls?
Here are a few documentaries I have found (but I haven’t watched yet) about Axolotls.
“Salamander of the Gods” (PBS) 2023 https://www.pbs.org/video/salamander-of-the-gods-wild-hope-y0vvc9/
“The Insane Biology of: The Axolotl” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFkIG9S2Mmg
"Hidden Worlds: The Strange Axolotl" (2019)
"The Secret Life of the Axolotl" (2021)
“Axolotls: Mexico's Little Monsters” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e0IqAlK6QM&t=2s
"Wild Mexico: Axolotl - A Species in Crisis" (2021)
"Mysteries of the Axolotl" (2023)
Here is my list of primary and secondary sources I used. Unfortunately, I have discovered that some of these websites or links are no longer active. That is always possibility when using online articles as sources.
Primary Sources (current as of January 2025):
Axolotl Conservation. Conservation International. https://www.conservation.org/projects/axolotl-conservation
Quaglia, S. “Axolotl Facts.” BBC Earth. https://www.bbcearth.com/factfiles/animals/mammals/Axolotl
“Facts About Axolotl.” Axolotl Conservation Foundation. https://Axolotlconservation.org/facts/
“15 Fantastic Axolotl Facts for Kids.” Toucan Box. https://www.toucanbox.com/facts-for-kids/Axolotl-facts
Secondary Sources:
https://www.plantasiaswansea.co.uk/blog/all-about-axolotls/
What featured animal would you like to see in a future book?
Email me at info@terrisabol.com and let me know.