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5 Stars

Song for Papa Crow

Marit Menzin

Schiffer Publishing

No. Pages: 32      Ages: 4 to 8
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From  inside jacket:  Little Crow loves to sing, and Papa Crow loves his song. But when Little Crow shares his crow songs with the other birds at the big old tree, they laugh and scatter. Maybe the Amazing Mockingbird can teach him to sing songs with the finches, flycatchers, and cardinals—and help him make some friends. But Little Crow should be careful what he wishes for . . .

Using Mockingbird’s tip, Little Crow becomes the most popular bird on the block. But, in a moment of danger, he learns that singing someone else’s song can have terrible consequences and that his own voice—and his father’s love—is of the greatest value.

Little Crow so desperately wants a friend he will do most anything to get one, even if that means fitting in to the point of losing his own identity. When he begins to sing like the other birds, he is welcomed, becomes part of the group. What Little Crow does not realize is the cost one incurs when making a major change to fit in with the crowd.

For Little Crow, singing the other bird’s songs to fit in and have friends could cost him his life when a hawk appears overhead. Little Crow is in danger and sings out, Papa Crow does not understand it is his son singing out—he no longer recognizes Little Crow’s singing.

Little Crow said, “Per-CHIC-o-ree!”—Heelllllp!

“Poor Finch,” said Papa Crow.

Little Crow sings out, “Fee-beeee!”—Help me!

“Poor Phoebe Flycatcher!” said Papa Crow.

Like Little Crow, kids do not like being different, they want to fit in with the crowd and be accepted. Those that do not dress as the others dress, speak as the others speak, or act as the other act are often shunned and ridiculed by those that do meld into one. But the group looks, speech, and actions often do not have room for individuality, originality, or creativity. That can be hard for a kid to understand when all they want to do is fit in, have friends, and not be teased.

Little Crow had lost his identity.  His Papa no longer connected Little Crow’s singing to Little Crow. In a time of need, Papa Crow could not reach out. As a social worker, I love these types of books. Kids need to know it is okay to be themselves; to act, speak, dress like themselves and not anyone else. Fitting in with the crowd is not always the best idea. I have seen smart kids trade their intelligence to fit in and lose much more than they ever gained. Kids who are different for any reason will lose what may be the best part of themselves simply to fit in.

I like Song for Papa Crow because it can open up a dialogue between parent and kids. The story can help kids understand that fitting in may not always be the best thing to do.

The illustrations, also created by the author, are beautiful collages. There are many birds, depicted in their wonderfully layered shades of color, on every page. On Papa Crow’s head, the feathers are short and look soft. The feathers making up his tail are long and smooth. You can see the strength in the hawk and the sudden fear in Little Crow.

In addition to a good story about preserving one’s identity, there is a short primer on North American birds. I really like this book.  Song for Papa Crow is a beautiful book, with thick pages for the younger kids, interesting bird facts, and a good story that can teach kids to stay true to themselves.

Teachers, school social workers, and others who regularly work with kids will find this book immensely helpful. Parents can use the story to open a dialogue about fitting in and being true to one’s self. Kids will like the illustrations of the birds and can use the book as a guide to the birds in their neighborhood.

Song for Papa Crow is a good story for any time or reason. For collectors, the illustrations are beautiful and this is the first complete book by now author and illustrator Marit Menzin.

Song for Papa Crow

Author/Illustrator: Marit Menzin    website   
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing    website
Release Date: July 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7643-4131-1
Number of Pages: 32
Ages: 4 to 8
Grades: Pre-K to 2
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Filed under: 5stars, Children's Books, Debut Author, Favorites, Library Donated Books Tagged: being yourswelf, birds, child psychology, children's books, cliques, crows, danger, hawks, identitiy, in-crowd, little crow, North American birds, papa crow, relationships, school, singing

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Franny Flanders isn’t exactly in love with her life. Her two best friends no longer speak to each other, her trippy grandmother has comes to stay since her parents split, and her mother is in meltdown mode.

In an effort to have more fun, Franny decides to dye her naturally red hair blond. Anyone who knows anything about hair dye knows that getting red to blond should be left to the professionals, and Franny in turn is left with neon orange locks. Not exactly the look she was going for. In an act of desperation, Franny goes to her grandmother for help. Her friend Joey reasons that since Gran is old, maybe she’s wise as well and can help with the hair situation!

Well, Granny does decide to help and frankly, Franny is a little embarrassed about the production that involves beakers, tinctures, olive oil, smoke, sparks and alchemy?! Somehow it works and Franny asks her Granny what the heck happened, but she refuses and simply warns Franny that there may be some side effects

What she doesn’t mention is that the side effects are of the social suicide variety! Franny’s middle school is completely divided by cliques and there is a set of unwritten laws about who to talk to, where to eat et cetera. Franny’s side effect has her talking to kids who shouldn’t be talked to and talking back to the Queen Bees!

When she finally gets her Granny to spill about her recipe for fixing her hair, Granny introduces Franny to the Hindi Help Box…a magical box that helps fix problems with different recipes. Franny can’t believe it. There are loads of problems in her life and her middle school that need fixing! She can’t understand why Granny won’t hand over the box and let Franny go to town.

But Granny is too trusting, and soon Franny is “fixing” the relationship between her two best friends Joey and Kate. She’s “fixing” boring teachers. And she’s “fixing” her dad’s girlfriend. But what Franny hasn’t counted on is the butterfly effect…the fact that all of this messing around she is doing affects everything else in her world. Can Franny fix all of the fixing that she has done? What are the outcomes of using magic to further her own ends?

Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas have written a breezy story that reads like a television sit-com with over-the-top characters and situations. But that’s not a bad thing! The underlying message of being careful what you wish for is loud and clear, but is presented in a thoroughly entertaining way. While Franny’s middle school has more cliques than I have personally ever encountered, the archetypes wear their characters well. The one pause I was given was with the character of the Lama who comes to Franny and Granny’s aid…he is given quite the Hollywood treatment and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. But if readers take his character in the spirit with which he is given, I think that his character works for this book.Liz Burns over at A Chair A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy gets it right when she explains who this book is for.

Another fun piece of this title that needs to be mentioned are the recipes from the box that are provided ranging from the “Sensationally Sexy Smoothie” to the “Forget it Fudge”. Tweens looking for fun will eat this up!

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In Out of Sight, Out of Mind, readers are introduced to Queen Bee meanie Amanda Beeson. Amanda is the stereotypical you-know-what. She is obsessed with labels, clothing and tearing other kids down. She has her own little posse of wannabes, but she makes sure that her position is always in tact. She tries so hard to be who she is that she has little time for pathetic kids like Tracey Devon. She is way too skinny, her plain Jane clothes barely fit her, and she doesn’t even stand up for herself when Amanda ridicules her to her face! Amanda has no idea why Tracey is in the gifted class at school…she’s not even that smart.

What nobody knows, however, is just why Amanda is so mean. If she does allow herself to feel any empathy or sympathy for anyone, she loses herself. She actually slips into the other person for a little while, and she hates how that feels. Thus the armor.

What she doesn’t count on is feeling sorry for Tracey Devon of all people. And then waking up in her body. Amanda feels trapped. She has never totally overtaken somebody before. What is she going to do, and more importantly, how is she going to reclaim herself? This is no Freaky Friday switch…Amanda is still existing as Amanda, she’s simply also existing as Tracey.

When she gets to school in her loser body, Amanda follows Tracey’s schedule and finds that it’s pretty easy to blend in. In fact nobody even seems to see her. When she ends up in the gifted class, she is surprised by the mish mash of kids who are there. What could they possible have in common?

After a clunky start, the story gets going. The haphazard background of Amanda’s prior out of body experiences could probably be left out all together. After that is out of the way, readers will enjoy a slightly supernatural mean girl story. Once introduced to the other kids in the gifted class, readers will wonder what all of the powers are. The ominous warnings of their teacher Madame, will keep them guessing as to who will show up next to try to exploit some of the kids powers. A fun series that will hook tween girls who want something scary and romantic that isn’t too much of either of those things.

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Said Beverly Cleary in her Newbery acceptance speech, quoting from a letter written to her by a young reader. Cleary went on to bemoan the cookie-cutter class-assignment letters she received by the thousands, and who can blame her?

But who can top her? Lisi Harrison (The Clique), that's who, caught by Chasing Ray in a delicious quote that, with any justice, will come back to haunt her:

"I don't mean to brag -- but I get literally thousands and thousands of letters, thousands and thousands of e-mails from these girls, and I do read them and not one of them has accused me of perpetuating poison into their world and their society," she said. "Every one of them says, 'I suddenly realize that it's not so important to be popular anymore. I used to be like this with our friends, but we've all changed. Truly. I really, really mean it.'"

Which would you rather read thousands and thousands of times? I suddenly realize that it's not so important to be popular anymore or Where do you get your ideas?

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Saturday night we went to see a semi-pro production of Puccini's Turandot in the dining hall of Lowell House, a Harvard College dorm that has been putting on operas since the 1920s. Turandot is pretty grand as these things go and the production didn't miniaturize anything--full orchestra, colorful (very "Oriental") sets and costumes, big voices in the big parts. The program, and a preshow announcer, politely admonished us to applaud only at the end of an act, a request (rather stuffy, but maybe they were worried about time) that the audience adhered to until Calaf's big third-act opening number, "Nessun Dorma." We all clapped madly.

It was practically Pavlovian. We clapped because it was a beautiful performance, but also because we knew the tune and loved it, and we knew other people knew the tune and loved it--group hug, anyone? "Nessun Dorma" is a high culture artifact that secured a place for itself outside the gates when it was kicked over the wall by Luciano Pavarotti at the 1990 World Cup. Now it shows up everywhere (fabulously by Aretha Franklin at the 1998 Grammys); it has nothing to do with Turandot; and you can get it as a ringtone.

Purists scorn but I love this. Opera buffs are like librarians or anybody in a community of shared aesthetic commitment (although Wayne Kostenbaum writes that putting two opera queens in the same room spells trouble). Everybody likes being an insider to something, whether it's opera or--I hoped I would get here--children's books. We saw that in spades here last week, when children's-book-lovers came together to rail at what they perceived was an attack by me on their affections. But it was also a very in-groupy fight on all sides, one amongst ourselves, the kind of debate that reinforces allegiance to the group because all sides agree that This Matters.

I don't think we adults who love children's books do so to be insidery (hmm, children's books or high fashion. Which will make me cooler?) but our shared love does give us an inside to be in. We like having a cultural vocabulary shared by a few, but we are also aware that the reason we're few is because children's books don't matter to most adults. This cognitive dissonance can cause both anxiety and a pleasant sense of superiority.

So we too like it when one of Ours is kicked over the wall, whether it's everybody reading Harry Potter or, my favorite example, a country song that can cite Charlotte's Web ("now I'm the one that's caught in . . .") and assume that listeners will know the reference. It reinforces our superiority (we knew Harry Potter before he was Harry Potter) and soothes our anxiety (if Charlotte's Web is part-of-everything then maybe I am too). Mostly it's just nice to have your affections confirmed, like when you convince a friend to like a book or a song you like. It makes you like it even more.

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OK, this isn't a poem, it's a song. By The Ramones. And, technically, we're down to 12.5 hours here on the East Coast. Woo!

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated
Nothin' to do no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated
Just get me to the airport put me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain
Oh no oh oh oh oh

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated
Nothin' to do no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated
Just put me in a wheelchair get me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain
oh oh oh oh

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated
Nothin' to do no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated
Just put me in a wheelchair get me to the show
Hurry hurry hurry before I go loco
I can't control my fingers I can't control my toes
Oh no oh oh oh oh

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated
Nothin' to do no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated
Just put me in a wheelchair get me to the show
Hurry hurry hurry before I go loco
I can't control my fingers I can't control my toes
Oh no oh oh oh oh

Ba-ba-bam-ba ba-ba-ba-bam-ba I wanna be sedated
Ba-ba-bam-ba ba-ba-ba-bam-ba I wanna be sedated
Ba-ba-bam-ba ba-ba-ba-bam-ba I wanna be sedated
Ba-ba-bam-ba ba-ba-ba-bam-ba I wanna be sedated

And.... here are some book reviews to keep us entertained until later tonight.

Mapping the World of Harry Potter: An Unauthorized Exploration of the Bestselling Fantasy Series of All Time ed. by Mercedes Lackey

I finished reading this yesterday morning while waiting for the nice people at Honda to fix my fuel door. This was actually quite good. I picked it up after my boss showed it to me and I read part of Sarah Zettel's essay "Hermione Granger and the Charge of Sexism". This is not a book of predictions, but rather well-thought out commentary on different aspects of Harry. If you can get your hands on a copy before tonight, check out Lackey's family's Harry Potter drinking game. Hysterical. It'll be outdated soon, so I wish I had read it earlier so I could have recommended it earlier. Ah well.

And... here's my review of the last volume of another popular series, which, um, Holy Cow, I read in October...

The End

When we last saw the Baudelaire orphans, they were trapped in a boat with the evil Count Olaf, drifting out to sea. They finally reach an island where other people can see through Olaf’s silly disguises and nefarious (a word here which means overly scheming and really just not very nice at all) ways. But are they safe? Does isolation and conformity lead to safety? This bittersweet end to the popular A Series of Unfortunate Events doesn’t answer all of our questions, but it answers enough and Snicket tells us which questions he will not answer, and why.

Many people have complained that the end is inconclusive, and not necessarily happy and that Snicket leaves too many threads unfinished but...

Would we really have been happy with it any other way? If it wrapped up nicely and succinctly, would it still have been A Series of Unfortunate Events? No. We were told from the beginning not to expect a happy ending and Snicket kept his promise. But it's not a sad ending. And we don't know how the all the threads played out because... well, in life, you know what happens to you, and you know what happens to some other people, but you don't know what happens to everyone.

It didn't answer all my questions and in some ways left me very disappointed but it was the perfect way to end this series and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

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