Crow and Hawk

In a tale from the Pueblo people, Hawk hatches Crow's eggs, raises the baby crows, and then turns to Eagle for a decision as to who should keep the babies. By the author and illustrator of How the Animals Got Their Colors.

Abandoned babies, birth mothers vying with adoptive mothers for custody, a tearful judgment?this Pueblo story has all the ingredients of a bad made-for-TV movie. When Crow abandons her nest, Hawk moves in to care for the eggs, then stays to tend the hatchlings. When Crow finally returns to claim her youngsters, Hawk responds that she is their true mother because she has raised them. Eagle, King of the Birds, sides with Hawk and bluntly tells a crying Crow that "this is the way it must be. You left the nest; you have lost the children." Just as distressing as the cheerless story, though, is the overstimulating chaos of pattern, color and scenes-within-scenes in Clementson's cut-paper collages. In contrast to the restraint he showed in the vibrant illustrations for How Giraffe Got Such a Long Neck (which Rosen also wrote), there is neither visual hierarchy in these pictures nor an easy point of entry for the young audience. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4^-8. Crow is tired of sitting on the eggs in her nest and abandons them, so Hawk takes over and continues to care for the baby crows after they hatch. When Crow returns and tries to take the babies back, Hawk refuses to relinquish them. The birds appeal to Eagle, king of the birds, who, after listening to what the little crows have to say, tells Crow she has lost her children because she deserted them. Vivid cut-paper collages with colorful borders fill the pages and reflect the directness, simplicity, and clarity of the text. The story is an especially pertinent traditional tale because it mirrors contemporary society's increasing struggle with a complex family issue. Told to Ruth Benedict by an elderly storyteller of the Cochiti Pueblo, it appeared in Benedict's 1931 Tales of the Cochiti Indians. Rosen and Clementson's new interpretation is just right for picture-book and folktale collections. Karen Hutt