Crickwing (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Far below the great forest canopy lies a shadowy world that many insects call home..." (more)
Key Phrases: army ants

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Janell Cannon, best-known for her award-winning picture books Stellaluna and Verdi, departs from the world of bats and snakes and turns her attention to... cockroaches. None of these are particularly cuddly creatures, but seen through Cannon's anthropomorphizing glasses, they are ones we can sympathize with. Crickwing, cruelly named for his twisted wing, is a lonely food stylist. He builds sculptures out of roots, leaves, and petals... and then eats them. But artistic serenity is not possible in the dangerous forest. The melancholy insect is constantly faced with cockroach-eating lizards, ocelots, and worse, food-stealing monkeys: "'Another masterpiece--ruined!' Crickwing panted. 'I'm starving and my wing aches. I don't know if I can take this much longer.'"

Bemoaning his fate as a "mere exoskeleton," Crickwing wakes up with thoughts of vengeance. As he watches thousands of leaf-cutting ants busy at work, he wonders, "Why isn't anyone bothering these little twerps?" He sticks his spiny leg out to trip one of them, and delights in taunting them further. Of course, the ants don't take this well. They swarm him, drag him into the dark corridors of their anthill, and bury him up to his neck--all the while whispering about how his mother must be heartbroken to have produced such an awful menace. Just as they are about to fork him over as their annual peace offering to the army ants, they have a crisis of conscience. "Nobody deserves that, not even this big bully," says one of the ants, and, risking the wrath of their queen, they release him and flee. Now it's Crickwing's turn to have a conscience. He races after the leafcutters with his creative plan to keep the warring army ants at bay. The story ends in a festive explosion of flower confetti, and a valuable lesson in compassion. The concluding "Cockroach Notes" and "Ant Notes" crawl with fascinating facts about our six-legged friends. (Ages 5 to 8) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly

Tired of being bullied, an artistic cockroach with a crooked wing and a penchant for culinary sculpture ("I just like to play with my food") begins picking on creatures even smaller than himselfAleafcutter antsAand is taken prisoner by the colony. Crickwing is sentenced to be served up as a peace offering to the army ants, but a few brave rebels have a change of heart and set him free. The grateful (and penitent) cockroach repays their kindness and saves the colony by scaring off the army ants with his best sculpture everAa giant green anteater made of leaves. The tale ends with Crickwing joining the leafcutters as their chef; the celebration that follows includes flower confetti and dancing (the "six-step," naturally). Cannon (Verdi) works her picture book magic once again, producing an amusing tale lightly rooted in natural history (notes on cockroaches and ants follow the story). Reeling in her audience with saucy characters and an engaging plotline, she hooks them with her vibrant visuals. Whether depicting Crickwing creating an edible mouse from a root, leaves and berries, an ocelot peering at him as he hides under a stone or a herd of leafcutter ants falling into one his traps, Cannon's illustrations skillfully blur the line between fact and fancy, and add another feather to her well-decorated cap. Ages 6-9. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152017909
• ISBN-13: 978-0439233347
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 10.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #569,235 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Think twice before crunching that cockroach!, September 11, 2000

By	Xeneri - See all my reviews

Janell Cannon has a gift for making the creepy critters lovable. In "Stellaluna" she made us identify with a lost bat; in "Verdi" she made us cheer for a snake who learns to shed his skin; but now she tackles the impossible: cockroaches!

Crickwing (so named because of a twisted wing) is a lonely cockroach. He spends his days as a "food-stylist", crafting sculptures of his food before eating them. But he and his sculptures are easy prey to lizards and other roach-eating critters.

Tired of being a victem, he decides he is going to pick on some smaller targets: ants! But the leaf-eating ants are not as harmless as they seem and they swarm Crickwing when his shenanigans go too far. Crickwing is not really the bully he seems, and when danger threatens both the ants and him, he becomes an unlikely hero! Vibrant and just as engaging as her previous books, though this one is more of a cheeky fable then fantasy. "Crickwing" just might make you think twice before stepping on a cockroach! A terrific companion piece for the award-winning author.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful book, December 6, 2003

By	Ann Zapata (Mounds, OK USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Another gem from Janell Cannon. More beautiful illustrations. This author is gifted enough to get us to fall in love with a cockroach! A great story with many life lessons tucked in along the way. I highly recommend it!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Controlling emotions, March 4, 2004

By	Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Crickwing is a cockroach who is grumpy because a toad have him a crooked wing and it aches. Crickwing likes to play with his food before eating it, but several nights in a row, his meal is stolen from him by large critters like lizards or monkeys before he gets a chance to dig in. Crickwing vents his frustration by torturing leaf cutter ants, but he gets in deep trouble, finding himself elected by the leaf cutter ants as the peace offering for the army ants. The story has a number of points that some kids, especially young ones, may find rather scary. But other kids may enjoy the tension. At the end of the story are some feature articles that provide more factual information about cockroaches and ants. The book has about 1600 words.