By Colorado Kids Advisory Board member Emily Vavra

Title: The Mob/Feather and Bone: The Crow Chronicles
Author: Clem Martini
Publisher: Kids Can Press, LTD.
Number of Pages: 239


You normally think of crows as noisy, annoying birds to chase out of your yard, right? Well, you’ll change your mind when you read The Mob/ Feather and Bone: The Crow Chronicles, by Clem Martini.

In this book, a family of crows is at a Gathering, a kind of family reunion that they have during every spring migration. One of the older Crows, Kalum ru Kurea ru Kinnar, the chooser, is telling the story about the family’s last Gathering. It’s a story of danger, adventure, courage, and excitement! The crows get lost in a winter storm, encounter cats and humans, face many hardships and learn a lot about themselves and each other.

The author’s descriptions are very detailed, and easy to picture in your mind, but his words can get a little overwhelming. I think you will like this book if you enjoy talking animals and seeing things from an animal’s point of view. I recommend it for fourth grade and over, since there are parts that are difficult to understand. You might need to have a little patience, too, since it takes a LONG time to read! Other books in this series include The Plague and The Judgment. Other books of this kind might be Watership Down, by Richard Adams and The Chronicles of Redwall, by Brian Jacques.

Happy Reading! (February, 2005)