From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2–Spirin tells the story of his wife and young son bringing home a crow with a broken wing. The full-page watercolor paintings of the artist's studio and his Moscow neighbors and cityscape are modern but have an old-fashioned feel that suggests a tale of long ago and far away. Martha is nurtured by her human family and given free reign in their home. Readers will cheer their decision to care for her when the veterinarian advises them to put her to sleep. "This bird will never fly again." Poor bedraggled Martha, wrapped in a bandage tied round with string and laid in a basket, soon becomes a saucy companion on the artist's table and even atop his head. Her gray wings and torso set her apart from the more familiar all-black American crows, and her friendly relationship with humans is intriguing. Many pages include an appealing framing device with a small image of Martha in varied poses. The recovered bird does eventually fly, and is set free. Adept at attractive page design and at shaping his story, Spirin weaves a satisfying conclusion to a tale that will be enjoyed equally as a read-aloud and for independent reading.
–Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PreS-K. Russian artist Spirin's latest is based on a family story. Some years ago when Spirin and his family were still living in Moscow, his then five-year-old son, Ilya, found a crow with a broken wing and brought it home. A veterinarian, who is consulted the next day, says that the bird will never fly again and should be put to sleep. Ilya steadfastly refuses, and so the bird, which he quickly names Martha, is brought into the family. Taking up residence in a basket next to the artist's work desk, Martha becomes a fixture of the domestic landscape and, to Ilya's delight, gradually recovers her ability to fly. Though true, the story is slight. But that hardly matters: the watercolor pictures--in a variety of shapes and sizes, from full-page to spot art--are beautifully rendered, affectionate, and executed in colors as warm as toast. Even better, the world they depict is just foreign enough to excite the curiosity and questions of young viewers.
Michael CartCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
