Counting Crows
With Audio Recording
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Help hungry crows avoid a feline foe in this clever concept book from the author of The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp and The Underneath.
One, two, three, crows in a tree, bedecked in red scarves and hungry as can be. So they fly out of their nest with snacking in mind, and snack they do. Snack one, snack two, snack three—all the way to a dozen! But before they have time to complain about bellyaches, they have a bigger problem: a cat has been eyeing them…as potential snacks! Can these well-fed crows become well-FLED crows? Read and find out in this counting book from Newbery Finalist and two-time National Book Award Nominee Kathi Appelt, with spot-on illustrations from Rob Dunlavey. It’s the cat’s meow!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Writing a fresh counting rhyme calls for the poet to hear the numbers in a new way, and that's just what Appelt (When Otis Courted Mama) has done. She tweaks sequences, varies rhythms, and punctuates her lines with piquant sound words: "One, two, three/ crows in a tree./ Three roly-poly bugs,/ three ripe mangoes./ Three for the counting crows./ Three, by jango!" Dunlavey's (The Dandelion's Tale) inquisitive black crows are all beaks and legs, with loose-fitting red-and-white-striped sweaters; one fashion renegade wears a polka-dotted scarf. Their eyes bug out as they peer at unfamiliar objects: "Ten crunchy crickets,/ ten green peppers./ Ten for the counting crows./ Yep, yep, yeppers!" The crows' black beaks and red stripes stand out against the white pages, giving the spreads a crisp, pared-down appearance. By contrast, the trees, telephones poles, trash baskets, and other background features are rendered in delicate, gracefully elaborated pencil lines. When a cat materializes beneath a park bench, the startled birds depart in small groups, and Dunlavey's final images add a note of quiet reflection to this clever, innovative creation. Ages 3 7.
