The cry of the crow: a novel

by Jean Craighead George

While caring for a baby crow, Mandy begins to look at her family and herself in a different light.

Genres: Animals, Young Adult, Childrens, Fiction, Nature, Adventure, Classics

149 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Jean Craighead George wrote over eighty popular books for young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and the Newbery Honor book My Side of the Mountain. Most of her books deal with topics related to the environment and the natural world. While she mostly wrote children's fiction, she also wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods, and an autobiography, Journey Inward.

The mother of three children, (Twig C. George, Craig, and T. Luke George) Jean George was a grandmother who joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George kept one hundred and seventy-three pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behaviour and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."

Reviews

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick thought provoking book about a young girl and the time she spent learning about crows.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

rating: 3.5
setting: Florida

Once again, JCG has written an entertaining story that brings to life one aspect of the natural world. Here she shares details about the behavior and intelligence of crows. This paragraph (p 9) typifies much of the writing:

Across the quiet forest came a call: "Ca! Ca! Ca! Ca!" — four sharp reports. The guard crow of Trumpet Hammock was speaking. [The young crow] pulled in her neck and nestled low in the nest. She had recognized the alarm signal. This was one of about fifty "words" used by the well-organized and highly social crows. This call meant death and danger lurked somewhere nearby.

A criticism: For the most part, the text reads smoothly, however Mandy didn't always act her age. ( I think JCG said she was 12 yo, but I couldn't verify that when I quickly rescanned the first couple of chapters.) If an age hadn't been given, I would have guessed her to be about 13 years old. But there are a couple of places where the text seemed to be describing an 8 or 9 yo child.

[Priscilla King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jean George was known for writing natural science information in the form of children's stories. Often the result was just a simple story about a typical animal's life. In this novel about a pet crow, George showed that she could do intense drama too. A boy sneaks out with a gun, which he's forbidden to use, and shoots at crows. Later his sister finds an orphaned crow on the ground. (She doesn't know the crow's gender, but names it after a woman of whom it reminds her, and calls it "she.") She makes a pet of the crow and can't bear to let it join a flock of wild crows. Crows recognize individual humans, they hold grudges, and they can be violently vindictive...and if you hated the end of "Old Yeller," you'll really hate the end of "Cry of the Crow." But it's the kind of thing that happens when people bond with wild animals they've rescued. If you want a pet bird, get a chicken, not a crow.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars -- What a haunting coming-of-age story. Mandy Tressel lives with her family of six on a strawberry farm in south Florida. Her father is a renowned strawberry cultivator. His cross-pollination skills are so great that he has been asked to come and speak to a group at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY about their strawberry breeding program. Because of this, though, Mandy's dad and her two older brothers are crow hunters. They will shoot any crows near the strawberry field or in the nearby woods, which is how this story begins. A nest of crows is shot out of a pine tree, killing the mother and father crow, as well as one of the babies. The other, called an eyas, imprints on Mandy, who calls her Nina Terrance, and there, the story really begins. I believe that I will find myself thinking about this novel long after this read date.

[Susan Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

We enjoyed this as a read aloud, though I thought how she made a point of husbands and wives having separate bank accounts was unnecessary. However, it provided a chance for me to talk with my kids about that aspect of marriage.

Lots of great crow lore! As we are reading her book “A Tarantula in my Purse” for school, we recognized several episodes as drawn from the author’s personal experience with pet crows.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting look into crow behavior. It bothered me that the dad thought nothing of his son saying, "here comes that ____ dog." This was repeated many times by the crow. Not funny. Not necessary.

[Frances Macknight]

This was revetting story and informative of the intelligence of crows. A tender tale of love which develops when a young person befriends a baby crow and keeps it as a pet.

[Parish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me wish I could befriend a crow when I was a kid

[Abcde · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really boring. This book is about this girl named Mandy that has a weird relationship with crows. One day she is walking home from the farm or crops, and this crow follows her like started walking on its two legs. She is trying to convince her father that it's bad to shoot the crows because there actually doing more help than you think. I didn't really like this book because i didn't get what she was talking about most of the time so basically it was boring and confusing.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book 1st when I was young. It made such an impact on me that Mandy could teach the baby crow to talk. I remember being so fascinated by the crow and all of the research. It still holds true today. I have always liked this author a lot, and all of the information provided about nature and animals and in this case crows.

[stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly don't know weather to rate this book a one or a five. I hated it with passion, but only because moved me so deeply. It made such a huge impact on me, and I hated it because it tore my heart to pieces, I sobbed for quite a long time, but I think it was a good experience. I will never touch the book again, but I'll also never forget how it affected me.

[Bodhi K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently reading Jean Craighead George's The Cry of the Crow. The book is about a young girl named Mandy Tressel. Her father kills crows with guns because he works in the family blueberry farm and he thinks that the crows eat the blueberries. Then Mandy's family would not be able to make money. If I was Mandy's father I would not just kill crows like that. I would read about them and see if blueberries are part of their diet. So far I would give this book five stars out of 1 star because it is very interesting and has dilemmas. One of the dilemmas in particular is when Mandy finds a baby crow out of its nest and she does not know if she should save it or not. If she saved the baby crow then she would risk her dad finding out the crow and then she would get punished. If she left it there the bird might die and Mandy alway wants to help other things. Mandy decided to help the bird, so she looked around if anyone was nearby and then brought the baby crow home. I can relate to this when I saved a young sparrow that got violently hurt. The bird got hurt by a much bigger bird fighting with it. I felt a good feeling stir in me when I saved the bird. I am at the part when Mandy try's to make a pretend newspaper for fun.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ack! Sad, sad ending. Possibly unnecessarily sad. I'm hurt and confused.

OK-- so, Jean Craighead George-- author of classics such as My Side of the Mountain and Julie of the Wolves. Unimpeachably awesome.

I brought this along on a backpacking trip because my current book must weigh 5 pounds, so this one was light. I read most of it in my hammock at a secluded mountain lake, where I could hear the crows calling (although they didn't sound that intelligent to me)... so, this was kind of the perfect book for the setting.

The plot is a little thin, though, and it's convenient how all these minor characters know just a little about crows, but still remain ignorant of them.

Anyways, not one of Jean Craighead George's best, but still worth reading... but Ah--that sad ending.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of George's best, and a tad dated, but I enjoyed the info about crows and the Florida Everglades setting. At times it was a little too obvious that George was trying to work in real research info, but I don't think kids would notice, and for the most part it was pretty seamless. I won't spoil it, but George ends the book on an abrupt and slightly startling note.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently this author writes other better books. This started as a book club that quit before the end. I don't know. The story is about a girl befriending a crow and trying to love it like a person, but it's really a wild animal. I guess the consequences of the mistake become clear by the end. There's a moral here.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 1980 Newberry Medal author (for Julie of the Wolves) presents us with a story set on a Florida farm. Young Wendy rescues a wounded baby crows and hides if from her father who kills the birds as pests. This interesting dilemma (torn between her dad’s way of life and protecting her pet) leads to unfortunate events. Though this is a book for children, it may be too sad for younger ones.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you have children, and you want to let them read very boring literature, this is the book for you. On the brightside, this will teach a young reader everything they need to know about quotation marks. Boy does this book love quotation marks.

[Michael Okuno · Rating 4 out of 5]

a really lovel book with a really hurting ending.

[Magda · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can tell the author has experience with watching animals.

[Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

This children's story centers on Mandy, a young girl who develops a relationship with a crow. Honestly not much more to say. I am going to encourage my kids to read it but won't push.

[Samantha Miller wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this easy read very much but but gave it three stars for the ending. Felt the ending was unnecessary

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meaningful, but sad story and ending! Lovely story about letting go even in the worst cases.

[Andrew]

This book greatly describes how Mandy Tressel raises a crow.It is finely detailed and I want to read it again.

[Leeann · Rating 4 out of 5]

As in all of Jean Craighead George's books, I learn so much about animal behaviors. I really enjoyed this book up until the end.

[Lorena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as a child. Left its mark on me. First book I ever cried reading. Love it.