Monday, September 20, 2010

Marvelous Picture Books

This is the cover of Chris Raschka's Little Black Crow. Raschka won the 2006 Caldecott medal for his children's book Hello, Goodbye Window. The Little Black Crow is about a young boy's wonderings about the life of a crow. The boy asks questions about the crow's life, such as, "Where do you go in the cold winter snow?" and "Do you ever complain in the wind and the rain?" In the end, the boy asks the crow, "Might you ever wonder about someone like me?"



The illustrations in this book are water color and use a very neutral palette. They display images of nature while emphasizing the crow's place in the wilderness. The illustrations combined with the text allow the reader to authentically wonder about the crow and nature in general. Children who read this book will be inspired to ask these questions about animals they see for themselves. They may try to find the connections between their lives and the lives of animals in nature. The author suggests ages four to seven for this book, however we believe that both younger and older children will enjoy the illustrations and the connections made with nature.


Happy Reading!

Page and Michael

2 comments:

  1. Great job with this recommendation on a book that just came out last month (August)! Can't wait to read it carefully.

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  2. This books looks so fun! I love that it encourages inquiry in young children!
    I think it is great that they author focused on something as common as a crow. I can't wait to check this book out! Thanks for the synopsis.

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