Hello, crow!

K-Gr 3--Franny Featherhead, a whimsical young girl with pitch-black hair and rosy cheeks peppered with freckles, is determined to befriend a crow that she meets while eating lunch atop her favorite rock. The unlikely friendship between the crow and the child develops due to Franny's messy nature. Readers are first introduced to Franny through the colorful illustrations of a kitchen in disarray with water overflowing from the sink, a toothbrush on the floor, and coffee cups sprinkling down onto the counter. They get a glimpse inside Franny's mind as she stares, marveling at the wonders of nature outside her window. Lush green trees, vibrantly colored flowers, and the animals that call the world outside their home envelope her as she enjoys her lunch. Unbeknownst to Franny, a dropped crumb leads her to her new friend. The curious crow with feathers as black as night and dark, beady eyes sneaks closer to Franny, until he steals away his prized crumb and flies off. Franny shares her excitement of meeting the crow with her father who quickly discounts the idea of a friendship. Through Franny's persistence and the occasional crumbs dropped from her lunch, the crow returns, leaving little gifts on her favorite rock each day. One day, a simple moment teaches her father that friends can be found in unlikely places. VERDICT A verdant and engaging read-aloud, perfect for budding naturalists.--Katie Callahan, Howard County Public Schools, MD

With patience and persistence, Franny befriends a crow.Franny's father calls her a "featherhead," but what she's paying attention to is the natural world. Savage, who has written extensively about nature for adult audiences, both tells and shows us an antidote to Richard Louv's "nature-deficit disorder" in this satisfying picture book. Her nature-loving protagonist leaves a mess inside but finds endless entertainment out of doors. Seated on a rock with her sandwich, she drops crumbs that attract a crow. The next day she purposefully brings food, and soon the crow begins to bring her small gifts. Eventually, her father recognizes that the crow is not imaginary; their friendship is real. The illustrations celebrate the wonders nature offers this resourceful protagonist, especially in a spread illustrating "a dozen different ways to pass the time while she waited" for the crow to appearclimbing trees, swinging on a tire swing, reading in a hammock, looking through binoculars, drawing, making a daisy chain, even helpfully trimming a bush. O'Byrne's illustrations show an appealingly freckle-faced white girl living with an indulgent, if distracted, father, also white. These images are relatively flat and childlike, and the effect is very child friendly. In an afterword, the writer tells readers a bit more about crows and poses an unanswered question: "Do they actually like or love their human helpers?"A gift for the nature shelf. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.