Customer Reviews

The Crow (A Not-So-Scary Story)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This charming book will appeal to both boys and girls (and parents too). It's engaging, seek-and-find format makes for a spooky and exciting read. The collage illustrations are really beautiful, and the storyline turns out, as the book suggests- not so scary. I am a big fan of the Crow, and can't wait to see what Alison Paul puts out next! P.S. Great jacket flaps!!

This book is not only a great concept but well executed. I loved it the moment I first saw it. It's an easy read aloud book that kids will want to read again and again. The depth of the illustrations will give the adult reading for the 1st time or the 21st time something new every time. Great work and I can't wait to read the next book from this author/illustrator.

The Crow, by Alison Paul, a recent graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. The story, an homage to Poe's "The Raven," tells the story of a child who mistakes a crow for a king, a robber, a wizard and a pirate. Written in verse, the timing is a bit clunky, but the images compensate for the awkward rhythm. Paul cleverly uses the pages to hide and reveal, to flip from reality to dream. The image of the crow in the child's yard lines up with the imagined scene on the next page--it's a match cut. The images themselves are also thoughtfully presented. Paul paints and draws over patterned paper, which peeks through beautifully. It adds a nice depth to the image, and makes you want to examine and re-examine each illustration. Perfect for the kid who reads this book over and over and over and over.

A part of me loves Paul's book for completely self-serving reasons. She is a recent graduate of a school I just applied to, and this is her first book. She is a successful artist in a difficult economy in a near-impossible field to break in to. The field I love. Oh no. Hi, Alison Paul, I'm proud of you...and jealous!

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As an artist myself (photographer and painter), I would say these illustrations are darn right emotional, playful, and unique. Not to mention exquisitely executed.

I bought this book at a used bookstore, and was delighted by the illustrations and the depth of meaning. I signed on to Amazon to look for more books by Alison Paul. Please, write more!

Upon reading it again and again, I have realized, it not only has depth and beauty, showing mind tricks and the FEAR we can feel induced by imagination, but also wonderful flowing words, which are hard to come by in children's books. I teach art to kids k-12 and will use this book again and again. Thank you!

This is a great book, beutiful to look at fun to read, more importantly my neice, who has made me read it with her at least 50 times, adores it, Ms. Paul has a childlike veiw of the world, and it seems to really capture a childs imagination. As an adult I thought it was beutiful, with the help of my neice I saw it from a childs point of veiw, and found it fascinating!

It's a take on E.A. Poe's "The Raven" wherein a child wakes up to find a crow sitting on a branch outside their window. As the narrative unfolds the child imagines the crow as a king on his throne, a thief in the night, a powerful wizard, each with its own wordless spread that re-pictures the scene with the imagined one. In the right hands this would be clever but here it exists only as a clever idea.

There are places where the illustrated collage work appears sloppy, the layered effect not achieving a suggested depth, the whole looking like a hastily produced dummy of a book promising greater execution in the future. Children might not be able to see the differences between the good and the mediocre but that doesn't give adults the permission to ignore quality.