What do you think?
Rate this book
Charles
A young girl finds a lost baby crow and brings him home to recover and grow stronger. She names him Charles after the sounds that he makes when they are together. Throughout the beautiful summer days they share breakfasts of cooked cereal or eggs every morning before heading out to see the world outside. And they especially enjoy when it is time to pick the fresh, sweet strawberries from the garden - with a few sweet bites to share before heading home again.
And then one day Charles starts to take flight to the tree at the edge of the property. The girl and her family know that it will only be a matter of time before Charles goes back to his true home amongst the trees and birds in the forest. But memories of their summer friendship - and especially of those sweet delicious strawberries - will remain.
And then one day Charles starts to take flight to the tree at the edge of the property. The girl and her family know that it will only be a matter of time before Charles goes back to his true home amongst the trees and birds in the forest. But memories of their summer friendship - and especially of those sweet delicious strawberries - will remain.
32 pages, Hardcover
Published December 21, 2017
11 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Hume
20 books9 followers"Born in England in 1947, Vancouver Sun columnist and senior writer Stephen Hume immigrated to British Columbia with his parents in 1948. He was educated at Mount Douglas Senior Secondary in Victoria, the University of Victoria, the University of Alberta and the Banff School of Advanced Management.
Hume began his writing career as a reporter for the Victoria Daily Times in 1968, joining the Edmonton Journal in 1971 as that paper's Arctic correspondent covering Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Greenland. He later served the paper for a decade as editor-in-chief and general manager, leading the newspaper to various national and international awards, including a Roland Michener citation for public service journalism in 1983.
In 1989, Hume returned to writing and the West Coast, joining the Vancouver Sun as columnist-at-large. Hume's writing in The Vancouver Sun won the Southam President's Award for commentary in 1991, national newspaper award citations in 1990 and 1993, provincial newspaper award citations in 1993, 1994 and 1996, the Marjorie Nichols Memorial Award for column writing in 1995, a silver medal for feature writing from the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation in 1999 and a Jack Webster Award in 2000.
An award-winning author of six books of poetry, essays and natural history, Hume's writing appears in numerous anthologies and is cited in textbooks including: The Alberta Diamond Jubilee Anthology (1979); Inside Poetry (1984); Home and Homeland: The Canadian Immigrant Experience (1993); Vistas: Exploring Poetry, Prose and Non-Fiction (1993); The Canadian Oxford Guide to Writing (1994), Dimensions II: Precise Thought and Language in the Essay (1996) and Contre-taille: Poemes choisis de vingt-cinq auteurs canadiens-anglais (1996). His collection of essays, Ghost Camps, won the Alberta Writer's Guild Literary Award for best work of non-fiction in 1989. Bush Telegraph: Discovering the Pacific Province, a collection of essays published in 1999, won a B.C. 2000 book award. A new collection of essays, Off the Map: Tales from the Road Less Travelled, is to be published this fall."
Hume began his writing career as a reporter for the Victoria Daily Times in 1968, joining the Edmonton Journal in 1971 as that paper's Arctic correspondent covering Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Greenland. He later served the paper for a decade as editor-in-chief and general manager, leading the newspaper to various national and international awards, including a Roland Michener citation for public service journalism in 1983.
In 1989, Hume returned to writing and the West Coast, joining the Vancouver Sun as columnist-at-large. Hume's writing in The Vancouver Sun won the Southam President's Award for commentary in 1991, national newspaper award citations in 1990 and 1993, provincial newspaper award citations in 1993, 1994 and 1996, the Marjorie Nichols Memorial Award for column writing in 1995, a silver medal for feature writing from the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation in 1999 and a Jack Webster Award in 2000.
An award-winning author of six books of poetry, essays and natural history, Hume's writing appears in numerous anthologies and is cited in textbooks including: The Alberta Diamond Jubilee Anthology (1979); Inside Poetry (1984); Home and Homeland: The Canadian Immigrant Experience (1993); Vistas: Exploring Poetry, Prose and Non-Fiction (1993); The Canadian Oxford Guide to Writing (1994), Dimensions II: Precise Thought and Language in the Essay (1996) and Contre-taille: Poemes choisis de vingt-cinq auteurs canadiens-anglais (1996). His collection of essays, Ghost Camps, won the Alberta Writer's Guild Literary Award for best work of non-fiction in 1989. Bush Telegraph: Discovering the Pacific Province, a collection of essays published in 1999, won a B.C. 2000 book award. A new collection of essays, Off the Map: Tales from the Road Less Travelled, is to be published this fall."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 29, 2018
A young girl cares for a young crow until it is old enough to fly off on its own. She is sad to see Charles go, but their bond remains.
The illustrations are really lovely.
The illustrations are really lovely.
December 8, 2020
A girl finds a baby crow that has fallen from his nest and takes him home to care for him (in absence of any adult birds). He is clever and mischievous and funny and wants to be involved in everything they do. The girl calls the bird Charles because that's what his vocalizations sound like. After awhile, Charles is all grown up and begins flying farther and farther away. One day he doesn't return. The girl misses him, but is comforted when he returns one night with a sweet gift. A sweet story. Love the illustrations of Charles - they're corvidacious!
June 11, 2018
Perfect length, perfect pacing, perfect blend of connection and loss. The strawberry at the end is a great symbol for how gratitude for a thing that was but is now gone can often offer comfort as we process its loss. Lovely.
May 15, 2018
A simple tale about a child who rescues and subsequently bonds with a crow.
September 16, 2018
A story as uneven as a crow’s flight pattern, redeemed by illustrations that capture the corvine penchant for detail and association with magic and mystery.
November 3, 2018
A young girl finds and injured crow and rehabilitates him forming a sweet friendship. Preschool and up
December 6, 2019
Awww, Charles is a crow who is raised by a girl, and it ends up being a tale of how sometimes when you love something, you have to let it go. Sweet and sad.
February 17, 2021
A young girl finds a juvenile crow in her backyard and raises it to adulthood when it takes off for the wild.
Loved the story but the illustrations are static and leave much to be desired.
Loved the story but the illustrations are static and leave much to be desired.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews