CROW

Everyone avoids pitch-black Crow. In despair, he wonders what's wrong with him. When he hears a cheerful flock in the distance—specifically a finch, a parakeet and a chickadee—Crow tiptoes over to greet them. They flee at the very sight of him. Without a touch of color, "[h]e's not to be trusted." Crow has a stroke of genius...or madness? He paints himself blue and yellow like the finch, then green and red like the parakeet and finally pink and grey like the chickadee—but every time he scares away the little birds. What to do? In the midst of his tears, Crow is timidly approached by these same little birds, who thank him for saving them from those big, scary birds. Crow has found friends and a place at last. This allegory on prejudice is presented with an irony that should appeal to older readers, but it lacks the elemental beauty of Ashley Bryan's Beautiful Blackbird (2003). Timmer's 12 double-page spread illustrations, done in acrylic paints, are evocative and beautifully composed, with a wise use of white space—
genuine works of art. (Picture book. 3-7)