Clever Crow by Chris Butterworth illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill

I am awarding this book first prize for cover design and oh my goodness you will love the end papers in this book - eggs of all colours and patterns at the front with little scientific old fashioned typed labels and at the back you can see the adult birds - all the different types of crows! 

This book combines a brief lyrical text with smaller font facts about this fascinating bird - the crow. Here are a few interesting facts:

• There are over 100 types of birds in the crow family
• Ravens are the biggest crows
• Scientists think crows might be the smartest of all birds - their skull holds a very big brain

Crows are incredibly smart and adaptable birds, capable of problem-solving, mimicking sounds, and forming lifelong bonds with their mates. They have a diverse diet and are known for their mischievous behavior. Crows have a complex social structure, with large groups called “murders” and a unique flying style. They are associated with folklore and mythology,and are highly protective of their territory. Fifteen facts about Crows

Read here about crows in Australia.

Look at these names - they are all from the crow (Corvid) family: Blue Jay; Rook; Jackdaw; Nutcracker; Chough; Magpie; Eurasian Jay and Rufous Treepie. 

Here are some quotes from the lyrical text:

"Wherever you are right now, there's sure to be a crow to two not far away."

"Crows are easy to spot, but they're also easy to miss, too."

"And crows are not fantastic fliers - they don't zoom like arrows or soar like kites. Crows just flap steadily on."

"Crows croak or caw instead of singing. They sound like birds with very soar throats!"

This is not mentioned in this book, but I thought about the way in many cultures, crows are seen as symbols of death or bad omens, while in others they are seen as symbols of intelligence or good luck. In Greek mythology, the crow is associated with Apollo, the god of prophecy and divination. The crow was believed to be a messenger of the gods and was often depicted carrying messages between the mortal and spiritual realms. In Native American mythology, crows are often seen as tricksters and are revered for their intelligence and resourcefulness. In many cultures, the crow is also seen as a symbol of death and is often associated with the aftermath of battle or with cemeteries. From birdsadvice

Gill’s standout mixed-media illustrations feature individual and group portraits of numerous crows and crow cousins, stylishly rendered in fine, exact detail. These visuals, along with a gallery of eggs, will draw the eye first, but young audiences will find Butterworth’s rapturous observations, delivered in multiple sizes of type, likewise worth lingering over. Kirkus

There is one important thing missing from this book - which is odd. I read that is part of the wonderful series Nature Storybooks (every school library should aim to collect ALL of these) but nowhere on this book does that label appeal - I wonder why. This series used to be called Read and Wonder.

Chris Butterworth is the author of over seventy books, mostly non-fiction, and has written on subjects as diverse as disasters, hiccoughs, basketball and snakes. She has written a number of non-fiction titles for Walker, including The Things that I LOVE about TREES, illustrated by Charlotte Voake, Where Do Clothes Come From? and the winner of the American Farm Bureau's Book of the Year, Lunchbox: The Story of Your Food, both illustrated Lucia Gaggiotti.

Olivia Lomenech Gill is a fine artist and illustrator. She worked with Michael and Clare Morpurgo on Where My Wellies Take Me, shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway medal, illustrated the new edition of J. K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and, most recently, Medusa, written by Jessie Burton.

Butterfly Park by Elly Mackay

Moving to her new house in an area that seems drab and grey a little girl notices a sign - Butterfly Park - but sadly there are no butterflies. I love that she takes a gift when she makes her first visit - "for it was always smart to make a good first impression."

There are butterflies in the town but when a young boy helps her catch one and then release it in the Butterfly Park it just flutters away. What is missing? Have you guessed? YES butterflies need flowers for their nectar. But how can this one girl bring flowers to the park - the answer is she cannot do this alone - this is the time for community action. The results are wonderful and Elly Mackay celebrates the renewal of the park with a double spread fold out page showing all the flowers, butterflies and happy children.  Make sure you look at the perfect end papers too. And if you can find this book I have read that under the dust jacket there is a surprise. You can see inside this book here. 

I live in Australia and yes, I do talk about our books, but I also love to share books from around the world. I was thrilled to discover this book, which comes from Canada. It was published in 2015 but it is still available and for a good price. I suggest adding this book to your shopping list today - I'm not sure it will be available much longer?

Book seller blurb: When a little girl moves to a new town, she finds a place called Butterfly Park. But when she opens the gate, there are no butterflies. Determined to lure the butterflies in, the girl inspires her entire town to help her. And with their combined efforts, soon the butterflies, and the girl, feel right at home. Elly MacKay's luminous paper-cut illustrations and enchanting story encourage community, friendship, and wonderment in the beauty of everyday life. 

The feel-good messages of enjoying nature, rehabilitating under-used green space, and community-building are presented organically in the story, which moves at a pleasantly even pace. But the real treat here is the art. MacKay in in top form, and readers will delight in the mix of colours, textures, and perspectives she employs in creating the visual elements of this lovely book. Quill and Quire

Elly MacKay is an award winning picture book maker living in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada with her family. She is the author and illustrator of several books such as Butterfly Park, Red Sky at Night and If You Hold a Seed. She attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design as well as The University of Canterbury with a focus on printmaking and illustration. She also has a Bachelor of Education from Nipissing University. Elly taught both in schools and as an educator at galleries before pursuing a career in picture books. You can follow her work on Instagram.

I would pair Butterfly Park with this one:

Butterflies belong here

In an interview with NPR Elly Mackay to talk about her illustrations in The Enchanted Symphony (by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton) explained her art process: She starts by building miniature sets, complete with the scenery and characters. Then she lights and photographs them, giving the images a more three-dimensional quality. You can read more about this here. 

This illustrated style reminded me of Soyeon Kim and her use of dioramas. I also thought of The Secret Sky Garden which is one of my favourite books. 

Here are other books illustrated by Elly Mackay:

Norman didn't do it! (yes he did) by Ryan T Higgins

"Norman was a porcupine. Norman's best friend was Mildred. Mildred was a tree."

Norman has always done everything with Mildred - games, reading bedtime stories and talking. BUT one day another tree pops up out of the ground. 

"Suddenly, it was no longer just Norman and Mildred. Now it was Norman and Mildred and the other tree. This did not sit well with Norman."

Over time we watch as the other tree grows taller and seemingly closer until one day their leaves touch. For Norman this is the last straw! (Even though in this case there were no straws. Just branches.)

Norman is desperate so he makes a plan. He needs to get rid of this other tree - can you guess what he does? He digs it up and transplants it very very very far away on a tiny island in the middle of the river. BUT now Norman feels dreadful. He feels guilty. And should he think about how Mildred might be feeling. And what about the other tree all alone so far away. Oh and what if someone saw him move the little tree. They might tell Mildred!

"What if digging up your friend's friend in the middle of the night and taking that friend very very far away was NOT the right thing to do? What if it was the WRONG thing to do?"

The library I am lucky enough to visit each week adds a little sticker to the front cover of books they especially love - the sticker says "Our Picks" and Norman Didn't do it (yes he did) has very appropriately earned one of these stickers. This book should be added to your school library and preschool bookshelf and you should also borrow it from your local library or badger them to purchase it. I do have to add, though, that very sadly this book costs over AUS$35 here in Australia so you might need to wait for the paperback edition. My copy was published in September, 2021 so hopefully the paperback is not too far away. This book could also be one to read aloud in your library or as a discussion starter about friendship, jealousy, and fixing our mistakes. And of course you will talk about the issue of 'twos company - threes a crowd' and how best to navigate changes in friendship groups. 

Ryan T. Higgins' signature wit, whimsy, and humor brilliantly explore the depths and complexities of friendship. Publisher comment

Here are some other books by Ryan T Higgins:

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

Exploits on the high seas and complex characters combine in a tale full of both excitement and heart. An engrossing adventure with the feeling of a whole world to be explored. Kirkus Star Review

Sai (full name Sodsai Arawan) is a girl living in a highly stratified society. She is on the bottom rung. Her father is a petty criminal and they live in squalid conditions. Sai, though, has worked hard and found herself a good job with the esteemed map maker. She has managed to find some clothes suitable for an apprentice and each day she travels into the city to work with Paiyoon. She has a firm goal to better herself and to do this she needs the all important status symbol of a lineal or chain. The more of these a citizen displays the higher their social standing. Sai is twelve. Lineals are given to children when they turn thirteen. They show your heritage.

The Kingdom of Mangkon is huge but the Queen wants more. She sets a challenge to the navy to sail to all corners of the globe to claim new lands in her name. 

Of course, these ships will need a map maker and Paiyoon is famous, but he is old now and unwell and his hands keep shaking. He does secure a place on a ship, but he will need Sai to travel with him to assist with the map making. Sai is very skilled with copying documents and maps. She is thrilled she can go on the voyage. Partly because this is a way to get away from her father and partly because there is a reward at the end of the voyage, and this will mean she can obtain a lineal and a better future.

On board the ship there is the crew of course, and one of them is very suspicious of Sai, but there is also the Captain who is the Queen's great niece, Mr Lark a naturalist, Dr Pinching the ship surgeon, Miss Rian Prasomsap - a former soldier, and Bo a stowaway with an interesting back story. The real dilemma for you as a reader comes when you try to work out who to trust. I was suspicious but also very wrong with my predictions. 

The voyage is long and filled with danger but the really interesting part of this book comes when we discover why the Queen wants to know about these distant lands and what she might do there. She has already almost destroyed some of the places they visit on the voyage and that is why I have added the label colonization to this post. 

"I had expected Falhin to be a green vibrant place like Pitaya Island but it couldn't have been more different. From what I could see, Fahlin was made of mud. The streets near the habour were slick and greasy, and the water was stained brown." Keep reading pages 180-181 to hear what Paiyoon thinks about the Queen and her desire to claim new territory.

Horn Book expand this idea: Class structure, imperial greed, and environmental ravages underpin the narrative arc of this fantastical adventure story, resonating with our own contemporary issues. At the same time, Soontornvat’s Thai-inspired culture and geography provide a vivid backdrop. With emphasis on an intricate plot and quick, accessible prose, Soontornvat provides plenty of excitement while bringing questions of expansionism and de-colonization to young readers.

Publisher blurb: As assistant to Mangkon’s most celebrated mapmaker, twelve-year-old Sai plays the part of a well-bred young lady with a glittering future. In reality, her father is a conman—and in a kingdom where the status of one’s ancestors dictates their social position, the truth could ruin her. Sai seizes the chance to join an expedition to chart the southern seas, but she isn’t the only one aboard with secrets. When Sai learns that the ship might be heading for the fabled Sunderlands—a land of dragons, dangers, and riches beyond imagining—she must weigh the cost of her dreams. Vivid, suspenseful, and thought-provoking, this tale of identity and integrity is as beautiful and intricate as the maps of old.

Watch the trailer from Candlewick. 

Reading it, it doesn’t feel like any other book out there. It grips you from the first page. You believe in these characters, in their wants and dreams and fears. You never doubt for a second their motivations, even when they surprise you with their choices. This may even be the kind of book that kids that usually eschew fantasy would actually like quite a lot. Though fantastical elements exist, there’s a strange reality to them. Consider this the kind of book that kids and their adult gatekeepers will love equally. In other words? Rare rare treasure. Betsy Bird SLJ

I have had this book on my list for a while. It was published in 2023. I saw the hardcover on sale in a bookstore but hesitated to buy it which was silly but anyway I now own the paperback.

Awards for The Last Mapmaker:

• 2023 Newbery Honor Book
• New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year 
• New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
• Kirkus Best Book of the Year
• Walter Dean Myers Honor Book for Young Readers
• Texas Bluebonnet Master List Selection 
• A Junior Library Guild Selection 
• A Common Sense Media Selection 
• Audiofile Best Audiobook of the Year
• Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
• YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
• ALSC Notable Children’s Book 2023

I previously talked about this book (five stars) by Christina Soontornvat.

A Wish in the Dark

Companion books:

Bartlett and the Ice Voyage

The Girl, the Cat and the Navigator

The Pearl in the Ice

Race to the end of the world

The Mapmakers' Race

That Bird has Arms! by Kate and Jol Temple illustrated by Niharika Hukku and Ronojoy Ghosh

I would be very tempted to read this book to a group without showing the illustrations. You could show them later after a discussion about the story and its purpose. There is one page that is especially important. When the other birds discover Roy has arms, they tease and bully him and use social media (Tweets) to spread their 'hate speech'. Roy could do several things to react to this - your group could list his possible responses. What actually happens shocked me.

"The birds laughed. The mean laugh. The laugh that makes you sad and mad and bad with everyone. Roy started poking people. He picked his beak. He picked other bird's beaks. He flicked people. He did graffiti. He wiped his hand on stuff."

Luckily things do change - Roy to the rescue - when Marvin the pigeon is tangled in some wires. Again, you could talk with your group about possible reactions and why Roy decided to be kind. 

Roy saves the day and the other birds now see him as a hero BUT will this fame and glory be short-lived. We have already witnessed that the birds have short attention spans, and that social media quickly flips to other topics. What will happen next?

Bookseller blurb: Roy is an ordinary bird in every way. He is not the biggest, or the smallest. His squawk is not the loudest or the quietest. He even follows the same football team as everyone else. He was very normal except for one thing – he has ARMS. Absolutely nobody knows – and Roy would like to keep it that way...  That Bird Has Arms is a story about difference and identity. It’s about learning to see that what sets you apart is what makes you strong, and it’s about pride in your own uniqueness.

This is a decidedly odd book. I am only going to talk about it very briefly because it has been shortlisted for our Picture Book of the Year award by the Children's Book Council of Australia. As a previous judge of this award I did have to weather some criticisms of our short list (and winner) choices (see below). I wonder if the three judges for this round are receiving any comments about this selection?

CBCA Judges' Comments: This quirky story oozes originality. It embraces popular culture, such as social media and popularity contests and cleverly explores themes of identity and accepting difference 

through the main character, Roy, a bird with human-like arms. The use of language is sophisticated and engaging, featuring direct speech of the avian characters alongside more traditional narration. The high-quality, colourful and engaging illustrations represent characters effectively and provide a clever sub-text to the narrative, including gentle humour appropriate for a dual audience. There is pleasing symmetry between the text and visual elements that embodies the mood and enhances the narrative. The plot that follows Roy coming to terms with his difference, as well as others’ eventual acceptance of him includes a joy-filled resolution.

Companion books:

Scary Bird

Oddbird

Calvin can't fly

We're all wonders

Another book you could try to find which is VERY old, but it has a powerful story about difference and using your talent is The Mouse with the too Long Tail. 

Niharika Hukku is a ceramics artist practicing in Sydney, Australia. Her work has a deep connection to her heritage of India, drawing inspiration from traditional earthenware and ceramics. Prior to commencing her ceramic artworks, Hukku spent a over a decade as an illustrator. She fuses these talents by delicately hand-painting her ceramics with expressive skies, landscapes and Australian wildlife. She is married to Ronojoy Ghosh. Read more about Ronojoy Ghosh here. And also about Kate and Jol Temple.  I previously talked about this book:

Ollie and the Wind

Just for interest here are the 2023 Picture Book short listed titles - the winner was My Strange Shrinking Parents.

A little rant about book prices in Australia

Today I read a review of a new book which will be published later this year (September, 2024). It is by Polly Horvath and I am a HUGE fan of her writing.  

Having read the review, I thought - now I need to add this book to my 'to buy/to read' list BUT then I saw the price of over AUS$48. This is a children's middle grade book, and it only has 256 pages, and this is not the first book I have checked with Australian suppliers that have such huge price tags. WHY? 

Here is the bookseller blurb for Library Girl: After living in the public library for the last eleven years, Essie must learn to adapt to a world that's not as perfect as the stories she's grown up with in this heartfelt middle grade novel from Newbery Honor author Polly Horvath. Essie has grown up in the public library, raised in secret by the four librarians who found her abandoned as a baby in the children's department. With four mothers and miles of books to read, Essie has always been very happy living there. But now that she is eleven, Essie longs for a little more freedom . . . and maybe a friend her own age. She seems to get her wish when her moms let her go by herself to the mall. On her second trip there, she meets G.E., a mysterious boy who looks so much like her she can't help but think they may be twins. Maybe he was raised by four dads in the appliance section of the department store. Maybe his story is intertwined with hers, and their happy ending is as one big family. But as she gets to know G.E. better, she learns that nothing is as simple as it seems in her stories--not even her own past.

I read and adored Everything on a Waffle, decades ago and even though the small plot details are long forgotten the emotional impact of this story lingers with me. Later when I saw Polly Horvath's name on a book cover, I didn't hesitate to buy it for my school library or for my own shelves.

Mr and Mrs Bunny

Lord and Lady Bunny

Very Rich

Here are the awards for Everything on a Waffle. Later editions did have a different cover:

• Newbery Honor Book
• Boston Globe- Horn Book Award Honor Book
• ALA Notable Book
• Child Magazine Best Book Award
• Parents' Choice 2001 Fiction Gold Award
• Parent's Guide to Children's Media Award
• International White Ravens 2002
• Mr. Christie Book Award
• Sheila Egoff Award
• New York Times Bestseller
• Publisher's Weekly Bestseller

Meet the Bears: An around the world adventure by Kate Peridot illustrated by Becca Hall

"So, you love bears? Fantastic! You have great taste. Bears are smart. Bears are curious. Bears are strong. And they can smell you coming from miles away."

A father gifts his daughter eight tickets to see the bears of the world. They pack their bear spotting kit with maps, a torch, water bottle, camera, warm clothes and most important of all the young girl takes along her teddy bear. She wants to find out which bear family he belongs to.

Arctic - travel by icebreaker - the polar bear fur white and pale and translucent.
Match - no - her teddy bear does not have white fur.

Alaska - travel by fast plane - the brown bear has brown fur with flecks of blond or black

Match - no - her teddy bear is not brown

Appalachian Mountains - you will need a trail pass - the black bear has short fur

Match - no - her teddy has a long black fur coat

Andes - travel by lama - the spectacled bear looks though she is wearing glasses

Match - no - he has no spectacles

Sri Lanka - take a jeep safari - the sloth bear has very long claws for digging up termites and ants

Match - no - her teddy does not have long claws

Borneo - canoe ride - the sun bear has a very long tongue

Match - no - as you have guessed her teddy bear does not have a long tongue

Tibet - another trail hike - meet the giant panda

Match - no - teddy does have a white face

So who does her teddy belong with? There is one more bear to meet - the Moon Bear from Japan, Korea, Siberia, Pakistan, Taiwan, and China.

On the final pages of this very enjoyable book, written for children aged 4+, there is a double spread explaining the animals that are NOT bears - the red panda; our koala; and a creature called a bearcat which I had not heard of. The bearcat is related to the civet and mongoose. He has a long tail for balancing in trees and white whiskers to help him feel his way around the forest at night. There is also a world map showing all the places the various bears are found. And a bear size chart. And finally some helpful information about staying safe if you are exploring an area where bears live.

This book is the perfect combination of a fiction narrative and nonfiction content. Unfortunately, it is another very expensive book - here in Australia it is listed at over AUS$40. It is published by Welbeck Children's Books from the UK [9781804535110].  If you ever see this book for a price you can afford it would be a good addition to a school library or perhaps you will see a copy to borrow from your own local or school library. Here is the webpage for the author Kate Peridot. Read the Kirkus review.

In your library head to the bear books in the nonfiction section [599.78]. Even though this is a fiction book I would read this one alongside Meet the Bears:

Five Bears