King Crow

by Jennifer Armstrong, Eric Rohmann

Jailed by an evil foe, a king receives invaluable help from a crow that regularly brings him the latest news.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Jennifer Armstrong learned to read and write in Switzerland, in a small school for English speaking children on the shores of Lake Zurich. The school library had no librarian and no catalog – just shelves of interesting books. She selected books on her own, read what she could, and made up the rest. It was perfect. As a result, she made her career choice – to become an author – in first grade. When she and her family returned to the U.S. she discovered that not all children wrote stories and read books, and that not all teachers thought reading real books was important. Nevertheless, she was undaunted. Within a year of leaving college she was a free-lance ghost writer for a popular juvenile book series, and before long published her first trade novel, Steal Away, which won her a Golden Kite Honor for fiction.

More than fifty additional novels and picture books followed, and before long she also tried her hand at nonfiction, winning an Orbis Pictus Award and a Horn Book Honor for her first nonfiction book, Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. In late 2003 she will travel to the South Pole with the National Science Foundation to do research for a book on ice.

Reviews

[Aiden Heavilin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"My dreams have told me the future of all tyrants such as you. Beware the knife at your back, the mole at your feet, and the weapon that breaks in your hands. You will never be safe. Even the hills are crowned with fire, and that fire will come to consume you."

An incredible children's picture book, with gorgeous, terrifying art, and a dark, violent story line. I am disheartened to see how few people have read this book, for it is a work of beauty! I remember how vividly it scared me when I read it as a child, what with a mystical talking crow, mighty battles, murder, and suicide. Its a deep story that does not condescend, and one might read it over and over again. It might be difficult to procure a copy, but I highly recommend it.

[Rick Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 star story, 5 star illustrations.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this illustrated book. It was masterfully done, and had an interesting Celtic story. Definitely a keeper to had to the collection.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

What drew me to this book is the amazing art work. I loved the art found within this book. The war scene was detailed and visually pleasing. This book is a picture book but is very text heavy meaning that there are many lines of text per page but they are double spaced. There are however many pages so this book is not a quick read as most picture books are.

There is dialogue among characters often with the text. This book would be a good lesson on sequencing and dialogue. There are a few contractions found in the text that might be good for a word study. The length of dialogue will challenge the reader's fluency and pausing for reading and meaning which makes this book a good one for a lesson on oral reading, however, their is in my view too much reading to be had here for a oral lesson so it's kind of a mixed bag.

This book touches on dark subjects for example: "he wondered if his friends where murdered". This book might be a great book for a later 4th or 5th grader who might still be seeking to looking read a picture book rather than a chapter. It might make a good book for a middle school study on cause and effect.

The gloomy story line at time wouldn't be best for younger children.

[Jamal Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice story. Title drew me in.

[Brenda Thompson]

Jailed by an evil foe, a king receives invaluable help from a crow that regularly brings him the latest news.