During my trip to Colorado this week, I stopped by Mesa Verde National Park. The ancient dwellings housed there were a once-in-a-lifetime experience to say the least. The second most memorable portion of my time there had to be looking at the avian taxidermy exhibit in the museum. In it I learned, among other things, the differences between crows and ravens. One thing I found they had in common, though, was just how much I could do without running into one or more of them in an open field.
THREE PROS
*One of the best morals of any book I have reviewed to date -- preaching the power of compromise is so important to raising the next generation of productive adults (is it too late to send 535 copies to each member of Congress)
*Even though the story could have taken place in any crop-producing region of the world, it was a nice change of pace to set it in what appears to be India (a map of the hills of India does not confirm that the locale is real or perhaps changed names since the 1988 publication, but one would assume from the pagri on the farmer's head that it must be)
*Having the owl act as an intermediary was so key to keeping the story moving and making sure that the reader didn't subconsciously take sides
*Having the owl act as an intermediary was so key to keeping the story moving and making sure that the reader didn't subconsciously take sides
THREE CONS
*If birds and humans could communicate with each other the whole time, why did it take so long for them to get a dialog started
*The happy medium that was eventually reached seems to be unfavorable to our poor farmer since his food is back in play while all he gets is a promise from the crows to stop their intimidating flyovers
*The happy medium that was eventually reached seems to be unfavorable to our poor farmer since his food is back in play while all he gets is a promise from the crows to stop their intimidating flyovers
*The scarecrows were more odd looking than scary, although they did manage to justify their purpose
ONE DAD'S OPINION
It appears that author Leo Lionni was a master of his craft, having won numerous accolades for his various works over an extremely long life. So, even though this particular story did not fly home with much in the way of hardware, it's no surprise that it was a solid effort. Written toward the tail end of his career, it's the kind of book that follows a cadence other fables should mimic. Look, I don't want to crow on and on about how great this book is, but it's a definite keeper. Cawll your local bookstore and reserve a copy for purchase.
BUY / Borrow / Donate / Destroy
ONE DAD'S OPINION
It appears that author Leo Lionni was a master of his craft, having won numerous accolades for his various works over an extremely long life. So, even though this particular story did not fly home with much in the way of hardware, it's no surprise that it was a solid effort. Written toward the tail end of his career, it's the kind of book that follows a cadence other fables should mimic. Look, I don't want to crow on and on about how great this book is, but it's a definite keeper. Cawll your local bookstore and reserve a copy for purchase.
BUY / Borrow / Donate / Destroy
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