How to Know A Crow: The Biography of a Brainy Bird - Perfect Picture Book Friday #PPBF

I have been a birder for a life-time. It's a special day when I get to just sit and watch birds in my back yard. There is one particular crow who I've watched for over five years. It is easily identifiable, as it suffered an injury to the tendon on one leg and it basically a one-legged crow. I've been fascinated by the deference most of the other crows pay it and am glad it has survied. So, when I saw the cover of this book and the soul penetrating look of the crow, it instantly caught my attention and the book definitely lived you to my expectations. It is a touching, humorous, and scientific nonfiction ode to crows.

Book cover - crow perched on a branch, with a panoramic view of a city's roofline, staring at the reader.

How to Know A Crow: The Biography of a Brainy Bird

Author: Rachel Hudson

Illustrator: Candace Savage

Publisher: Greystone Kids (2024)

Ages: 9-12

Nonfiction

Themes:

Crows, life of a crow, humor, nature, and discovery.

Synopsis:

For readers 9-12, get up close and personal with a clever corvid and discover the fascinating world of crows.

Crows are all around us, shouting from lamp posts, poking around on lawns, and generally taking a bright-eyed interest in everything that moves. But most of us don’t know much about their lives. In How to Know a Crow, award-winning author Candace Savage invites us into the fascinating world of these big, brash, and surprisingly brainy birds.

From the moment baby crow Oki pokes her egg tooth through her shell and emerges into her nest, we are her constant companions. As we follow her through the seasons of her life, we explore how crows see and sense the world.

With How to Know a Crow, uncover the answers to questions such as:

Do crows have families?

How do crows communicate with one another?

Do crows play?

How can we interact with them?

Featuring gorgeous illustrations from Rachel Hudson, How to Know a Crow is a memorable journey of discovery.

Opening Lines:

The clear light of early morning filter through the upper branches

of the crow's nest. There's a chill in the breeze, a reminder of the

winter just past, but the air is filled with birdsong and dappled with

new-leaf green. Suddenly, it's glorious spring.

*You are about to enter the secret world of crows."

What I LOVED about this book:

From the intriguing endpages, the reader knows they are in for a unique and interesting adventure with crows. With an almost conspiratorial, conversational text, this middle grade nonfiction leads us into and through the lives of crows. I love Rachel Hudson's detailed and lovely illustrations. The way the crow seems to be looking at the reader, inviting them to see the world from their viewpoint - through their eyes.

Internal spread - on the left a crow sits on a nest high in a tree, with a panoramic view stretching from a neighborhood to the horizon. On the right, beinginng of chapter 1 text.

Text © Candace Savage, 2024. Image © Rachel Hudson, 2024.

Following the life of one crow, Oki, Candace Savage beautifully weaves together scientific information and a "personal" narrative full of gorgeous analogies - such as the description of the nest, "a big bundle of pencil-thin sticks, dozens and dozens of them, that have been woven together to form a large basket. As big as a kitchen sink." There is also plenty of humor, Who wouldn't chuckle to learn scientists once found a pair of boxers used to line a crow's nest. I love the asides, marked with a star, that offer nuggets of information or quips tangentially related to the text - "Shhh! Hatching in progress. Few birds are as quiet as nesting crows." I've never really thought of crows as quiet.

In addition to stunning panoramas, Rachel Hudson includes gorgeous close-ups, spot illustrations, and graphics. One of my favorites, is the world map of all the crow species found in the world. I honestly had no idea there were so many species of crows - Hooded Crows, Rook Crows, or the Long-billed Crows. And I love birds.

Internal spread - at the center, a flattened oval globe. On each side are five cameo images of a total of 10 species of crow living around the world.

As well as an amazing vertical (book tipping) illustration of a crow's tree and nest - "High-Rise Living at its Best.'' Which includes humorous punchy headlines connected to human real estate aspects - "No-Stair Options" and "Health and Safety Standards.") Ha!

Internal spread - vertical image of a crow's tree and the facets of it that make it the perfect home fo crows.

I love how Candace Savage masterfully and seamlessly connects the facets of Oki's life to a child's (do birds have belly buttons?) or to common things (new crows weigh "about the same as a couple of grapes.") She makes it easy and fun to learn about these amazing birds and their family lives. Captivating "Crow Lab" side bars, marked with binoculars, provide additional information and fun activities (like trying to build a nest like a crow).

Internal image - on the left, spot illustrations of a crow bringing twigs for a nest, a mom on a nest, a wary crow watching, and a crow sounding the alarm. On the right a crow with a beak-full of twigs invites the reader to maks a crow's nest.

Creating a loving ode to the crow, Candace Savage explores their intelligence, craftiness, coopertation, playfulness, interactions and connections with humans, and caring emotional awareness. This is not a Disney movie and the loss of baby crows, the almost 100% fatalitiy of West-Nile virus, and other dangers (humans included) are not sugar coated. It is a spectacular journey through the life of Oki and her family, full of enticing facts, amazing science, and heart. Though aimed at the middle grade reader, Candace has wrapped in humor, science, and amazing information at such a myriad of levels that this is a great book for readers who love nonfiction, amateur and seasoned birders, or anyone curious about the intelligent, emotional, and truly amazing CROW.

Resources:

make an easy, medium, or slightly harder origami crow.

watch crows in your yard or park. take notes, or draw pictures, of what you observe. How many are there? What are they doing? When is it (month, time of day)? Try to watch from the same location at different times. Do you notice any differences?
check out the Cornell Lab of Orinthology "Crows are Cool" science and nature activities.
one activity in the book is to try an make a nest with twigs. What if you tried to builld a nest that would fit your family? Make one outside from natural materials you find. Then make one indoors, with pillows, blankets, etc.. How big would your nest have to be? Which was easier to make? Try the other activities in the book?

If you missed my interview with Candace Savage and Rachel Hudson on Monday, find it (here).

This post is part of a series by authors and KidLit bloggers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. For more picture book suggestions and resources see Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Books.