Crows!: Strange and Wonderful

Strange and Wonderful

by Laurence Pringle, Bob Marstall (Illustrator)

You see them feeding along the sides of roads or flying to the tops of trees. They are known as common crows, but there is nothing common about them. The familiar sound of "caw, caw, caw" is just one of at least twenty-five distinct sounds crows make in order to communicate with one another. Laurence Pringle examines these remarkable creatures in a fact-filled text that explores how crows talk, behave, and survive. With beautifully detailed illustration by Bob Marstall, young readers get a fascinating look into the world of one of the smartest birds on earth in this winner of the John Burroughs Nature Books for Young Readers Award.

Genres: Nonfiction, Birds, Picture Books, Childrens

34 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2002

Reviews

[J]

This was a really a great and wonderful introduction to the world of crows for very young readers. The reader is taken upon a slightly prose-felt trip into exploring crows, theirs habits and their lives as well the other members of family. And with beautiful illustrations that seem realistic it isn't that hard to imagine yourself outside while you are learning about these smart fowls and watching them as they go around their business in your own yard.

The writing was really easy and simple to understand while the mentioning of one subject easily flowed into the next instead of madly jumping around. And it also does a great job in trying to dispel all the evil thoughts and hate that are directed to the bird in the hopes that the fascinated reader will more or less have a change of heart for these resourceful feathered friends.

Mostly definitely an enjoyable read for adults and children while it would make for a great birding gift, especially for those who want to teach the younger generation more about this particular bird.

[elstaffe]

Pull quotes/notes
"A smaller crow, the fish crow, lives in states along the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of 'caw, caw,' it calls out 'car, car.'" (9) it has a New York accent?

"Crows can do harm, and they can do good. They are simply part of nature. They are fascinating creatures and are among the smartest and most adaptable birds on Earth.

Caw ... Caw ... Caw! " an incredible way to end a book

[Sandy]

Get to know your neighborhood crows. They are such intelligent birds. They are watching you! Lovely text and illustrations. I believe I read books by the author Laurence Pringle when I was eight years old, a burgeoning naturalist.

[ConnieLettow]

Wonderful! I was really intriqued by this book. This is a fact type book that I usually don't like, but this one seemed different and extremely interesting. My 5 yo and her 12 yo cousin were both fascinated as well.

[Lori June]

loved the illustrations!

[Jill]

Interesting.

[Aneesa]

Readable. We will see how it compares.

[Steffan Price]

If you like crows as much as I do, this is the book for you!

[Nancy]

Wonderful indeed! Great illustrations. Succinct. Well-written. Great educational tool for elementary school.

[Linda]

For such a brief text, this book gives basic information about the Corvus Genus, of which there are several species, including crows and ravens, jackdaws and rooks. It includes the intelligent behavior and main habits as well as habitat of these birds. For one just beginning to learn about these birds, the information given is good, and the illustrations illuminate well.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer]

Pringle's books are so interesting. He makes the common crow into a fascinating bird.

[Laura]

This book is great it gives great info about crows. I loved the pictures in the book and this book just proved to me all the reasons I like crows!