Crow Baby
By Helen Milroy
Highly Recommended
Reviewed by Lucy Black, Librarian, Mt Cook School Wellington
| Author & Illustrator: | Helen Milroy |
| Publisher: | Fremantle Press |
| ISBN: | 9781760992842 |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Publication: | 2024 |
| Ages: | 4-adult |
| Themes: | Indigenous Australian stories, community, living with nature, disaster, grief |
Highly Recommended
Reviewed by Lucy Black, Librarian, Mt Cook School Wellington
Opening sentence
Long, long ago when the universe was newly created, there were times when special things could happen.
'Crow Baby' is a sophisticated picture book about a time when ‘unpredictable and unique’ things occurred more often.
Set in outback Australia in an unnamed indigenous community, 'Crow Baby' is the story of Daisy Crow and how she was born with both a human spirit and a crow spirit. The story explores Daisy’s duality and how she inhabits the two parts of herself and how she fits them into her small community.
Daisy is destined for great things and as a child she begins to explore her healing capabilities and learns more about herself with the help from family and elders. 'Crow Baby' is delicately and beautifully recounted and illustrated by Helen Milroy; the rich, sharp pictures perfectly compliment the story, they’re original and eye-catching. Told by someone else this short story could have been a tragedy, and some young readers might be momentarily upset by the plot turns. Milroy carefully shows readers that just because the story didn’t end the way we thought it would, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a happy ending, and what is a happy ending anyway?
'Crow Baby' is a special and touching story: this sort of book won’t come your way often.
Set in outback Australia in an unnamed indigenous community, 'Crow Baby' is the story of Daisy Crow and how she was born with both a human spirit and a crow spirit. The story explores Daisy’s duality and how she inhabits the two parts of herself and how she fits them into her small community.
Daisy is destined for great things and as a child she begins to explore her healing capabilities and learns more about herself with the help from family and elders. 'Crow Baby' is delicately and beautifully recounted and illustrated by Helen Milroy; the rich, sharp pictures perfectly compliment the story, they’re original and eye-catching. Told by someone else this short story could have been a tragedy, and some young readers might be momentarily upset by the plot turns. Milroy carefully shows readers that just because the story didn’t end the way we thought it would, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a happy ending, and what is a happy ending anyway?
'Crow Baby' is a special and touching story: this sort of book won’t come your way often.
| Author & Illustrator: | Helen Milroy |
| Publisher: | Fremantle Press |
| ISBN: | 9781760992842 |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Publication: | 2024 |
| Ages: | 4-adult |
| Themes: | Indigenous Australian stories, community, living with nature, disaster, grief |
Recommended
