Crow Call

              

          

           Picture Book #4

          AUTHOR: Lois Lowry

 

          TITLE: Crow Call

          ILLUSTRATOR: Bagram Ibatoulline

GENRE: Non-Fiction Picture Book

THEME:  Parent coming home from war. 

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CHARACTERS:

Liz and her father

AWARD(S): Newbery Award winner.

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2009 by Scholastic Press

This is a touching story about Lizzie whose father returns home after being away at war (WWII).  They spend the day together, getting reacquainted and it is a little awkward.  Lizzie’s father buys her a plaid wool shirt that is actually for a man, but she admired it so he bought it for her.  After breakfast at their local diner, the duo goes off to hunt crow. In a moving exchange Lizzie asks her father is he’s ever been afraid.  He tells her that there were moments during the war that he was afraid but now that he is home, he is not afraid.   Although Lizzie is captivated by the crows that she is able to draw to her with the whistle, she’s afraid for their lives.  Her father senses this and explains the necessity of killing them to protect the crops. He chooses not to shoot any crows that day and instead Lizzie runs through the birds laughing!  You can sense the apprehension that Lizzie felt in the beginning of the book, though it ends with the young girl and her father reconnecting.  The illustrations are beautiful and fit the theme of this book perfectly.   I found this book to be very touching and relatable in this day and age.   

Being an Army Wife I can totally see Lizzie in my daughter Chloe, every time her Dad comes home from war.  Getting reacquainted can be stressful and awkward at the best of times but the time spent together is well worth it.  With as many military associated children is the school system, this book could be used to discuss or address the issues of a parent being away.  It could also help non-military children relate to them better.  I highly recommend this book.