Sweet story of nature and nurturing.
Can a rescued crow become a pet?
A young boy spots a baby crow on the ground, unable to fly, and brings it home to nurse back to health. Mom warns him that this is a big challenge and that the weak crow could die. Grandpa warns that crows can be pests, which prompts the boy to research crow intelligence to prove him wrong. The narrator names the bird Crowbar. Within a month, Crowbar is flying, and though he lives outside, he doesn’t abandon his human friend. He taps on the boy’s bedroom window and caws to wake him every morning. The boy learns a bit of crow language but can’t get the bird to speak English. Crowbar begins snatching articles in his beak—a bracelet, a coin, a spoon. Crowbar uses the coin as a kind of surfboard to go down a slide, impressing even Grandpa. Despite his affection, Crowbar is also alert to the call of nature and eventually leaves, ready to live in the wild. Two of George’s three children are listed as collaborators on the Newbery Medalist’s final picture-book text; together they find the perfect balance of warmth and information. Minor’s lovely illustrations use a slightly subdued palette, giving the bird plenty of personality without anthropomorphizing him and depicting his human family as White. Two pages of facts about crows and suggestions for further reading conclude the book. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sweet story of nature and nurturing. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-000257-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
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