The Crow's Tale by Naomi Howarth

The Crow's tale is a pourquoi story. It could have the title Why the Crow has black feathers? or Why Crows croak? This story of the crow was inspired by a Native American legend called The Rainbow Crow. For the Lenni Lenape Indians and for readers today it contains messages of perseverance, bravery, truth and friendship.

It is winter. It is freezing cold. The land is covered in a thick blanket of snow. The animals are tired, starving and frozen. The wise owl asks for someone brave to visit the Sun. The only one with the ability to do this is Rainbow Crow. The Sun, grumbles, but gives the crow a long branch of fire. As crow flies home he becomes:

sooty and croaky
scorched, singed and blackened,
Crow was unrecognisable from his beak to his backend.

Crow is so sad about this change in his appearance and voice. But the animals, who are now warm from the fire, remind him of something important.

"Pretty or ugly, slim, thin or fatter, your beauty inside is the heart of the matter."  

Is this a message for everyone? Perhaps this is a story with a moral as well as the story of how the crow became a bird with black feathers.

Image source: https://animals.net/crow/

The library I visit each week like to attach labels to their books. They have one special set of labels for books loved by the staff called "our picks".  I can see why this beautifully illustrated picture book has this accolade. Take a look at Playing by the Book where Zoe shares so ideas for using this book with young children and you can also see some of the wonderful illustrations. Here is the web site for UK illustrator Naomi Howarth.