Plop the owlet is a special case, of course, because he is a nightbird but even he has to be persuaded by a boy with fireworks, an old woman with memories, an astronomer with a telescope among others that dark is exciting, dark is kind, dark is wonderful.

The author uses the phrase ‘a fountain of dancing stars sprang up from the ground’ to describe the fireworks. Mrs Barn Owl sends him down from his nest hole to ask about the dark and he meets a little boy waiting for the fireworks to begin, an old lady, a scout out camping, a girl who tells him about Father Christmas, a man with a telescope and a black cat who takes him exploring. It was published in 1968, illustrated by Joanne Cole, and an abridged edition illustrated by Paul Howard published in 2001.

Plop, the Baby Barn Owl, is like every Barn Owl there ever was, except for one thing - he is afraid of the dark. Orion the black cat explains that there are ‘hot scented summer nights’, ‘cold windy nights’, ‘breathless thundery nights’ and ‘fresh spring nights’. Filled with gentle humour and giving comforting reassurance to night-time fears and anxieties, Jill Tomlinson's animal bedtime stories have been enjoyed by children for decades. The plot is divided into seven chapters, each covering a night during which Plop learns something new about the dark: dark is exciting, dark is kind, dark is fun, dark is necessary, dark is fascinating, dark is wonderful and dark is beautiful. The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark is a children's book by Jill Tomlinson, of which there is also an audio version read by Maureen Lipman.

Plop, the Baby Barn Owl, is like every Barn Owl there ever was, except for one thing–he is afraid of the dark. A cunning story that will help children who are afraid of the dark to appreciate it and be unafraid. The book shows what constellations are, especially Orion's belt, and has been adapted as a show at the London Planetarium. On 13 February 2022, the BBC broadcast the story on their CBeebies Bedtime Story programme, read by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Barn Owl sends him down from his nest-hole to ask about the dark, and he meets a little boy waiting for the fireworks to begin, an old lady, a scout out camping, a girl who tells him about Father Christmas, a man with a telescope, and a black cat who takes him exploring.