X the Owl’s home is a knot hole in the Tree that’s in the center of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. He’s a fine feathered friend – eager to learn, curious, and open to discoveries. He receives lessons from the Owl Correspondence School (OCS) on a wide range of subjects and excitedly awaits their arrival. To show his delight on any occasion, he enthusiastically calls out “nifty-galifty!”
Like his hero, Benjamin Franklin, X is an avid reader, loves poetry and rhymes. And like Ben Franklin, he even has a printing press in his knot hole where he now and then prints announcements for Neighborhood of Make-Believe events.
X’s best friend and neighbor is Henrietta Pussycat. They share lots of interests and conversations. But like all friends, there are times when conflicts arise. X can be bossy and Henrietta can be stubborn. But they find ways to talk about their feelings, and are able to repair their friendship and move on.
X the Owl was one of the original puppets from The Children’s Corner, and was named X because he “X-scaped” from a cage. Here’s what he had to say about that: “…my friend and true tame tiger pal, Daniel S. Tiger, let me out of my cage at the county fair…Daniel said to me ‘X SCAPE’ and I said, ‘Well, how about that.’ I flew out and I’ve been his pet ever since and now I live in a tree right next to Daniel’s Clock.”
