cover image Black Crow, Black Crow

Black Crow, Black Crow

Ginger Foglesong Guy. Greenwillow Books, $13.95 (24pp) ISBN 978-0-688-08956-6

Guy makes her picture book debut with this modest yet engaging tale, presented as a conversation with a crow. ``Black crow, black crow, / what do you caw about? / What do you jaw about / high in your tree?'' ask the book's opening lines. To this and subsequent questions, the mother crow responds that she awakens, feeds and plays with her two children throughout the day. Parker ( Paul Revere's Ride ; Bugs ) anthropomorphizes the crow family with inventive details: `` high in the leaves, '' the little ones sleep under quilts in twin beds and eat cereal from decorative pottery bowls on a tablecloth-covered table. Kerchief on head, mother hangs on to the straps of one child's overalls as they fly. The simplicity and repetition of Guy's text--and its large print--makes this a prime pick for beginning readers. Ages 4-up. (Apr.)