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Little John Crow
After being abandoned by his animal friends, Little John Crow must come to terms with what it means to be part of a community when you are a vulture.
“Little John Crow is full of energy and color. Co-written by Marley and his wife Orly, the story follows a young vulture named Little John Crow who is abandoned by his animal friends after they realize he is a natural-born scavenger. Eventually, both the vulture and his community come to realize the value he brings to Bull Bay. He arrives back home just in time to save it.”
— People Magazine
Little John Crow is a young vulture growing up in Bull Bay on the edge of the Blue Mountains in Jamaica, where he lives with his loving parents Sharil and Rusil Crow. He spends his days playing with his friends, a motley group that includes a snake, George; Missy, the French pigeon; Chiqueen, a chicken hawk; Hummy, the hummingbird; and the Three Little Birds.
One morning while the group of friends is relaxing by a cool river, they start chatting about life, their parents' jobs, and what they want to be when they grow up. As the conversation continues, Little John Crow realizes he has no idea what his parents do for work.
Little John Crow and his friends set out to solve this mystery, but what they discover shocks them--Little John Crow and his vulture parents are scary scavengers! Most of his friends are disgusted when they learn this, and before Little John Crow can even adjust to this news, a terrible tragedy strikes. Feeling lonely and isolated from his friends, the young vulture flees Bull Bay.
After flying for days, a tired and hungry Little John Crow is fortunate to be found by a group of vultures. With their support and encouragement, the young vulture learns to embrace his future, and after months away, he returns to Bull Bay just in the nick of time to save his home from ruin.
Filled with humor and memorable characters, Little John Crow reminds us of the importance of accepting our differences and remembering that life offers a place and purpose for all of us.
“Little John Crow is full of energy and color. Co-written by Marley and his wife Orly, the story follows a young vulture named Little John Crow who is abandoned by his animal friends after they realize he is a natural-born scavenger. Eventually, both the vulture and his community come to realize the value he brings to Bull Bay. He arrives back home just in time to save it.”
— People Magazine
Little John Crow is a young vulture growing up in Bull Bay on the edge of the Blue Mountains in Jamaica, where he lives with his loving parents Sharil and Rusil Crow. He spends his days playing with his friends, a motley group that includes a snake, George; Missy, the French pigeon; Chiqueen, a chicken hawk; Hummy, the hummingbird; and the Three Little Birds.
One morning while the group of friends is relaxing by a cool river, they start chatting about life, their parents' jobs, and what they want to be when they grow up. As the conversation continues, Little John Crow realizes he has no idea what his parents do for work.
Little John Crow and his friends set out to solve this mystery, but what they discover shocks them--Little John Crow and his vulture parents are scary scavengers! Most of his friends are disgusted when they learn this, and before Little John Crow can even adjust to this news, a terrible tragedy strikes. Feeling lonely and isolated from his friends, the young vulture flees Bull Bay.
After flying for days, a tired and hungry Little John Crow is fortunate to be found by a group of vultures. With their support and encouragement, the young vulture learns to embrace his future, and after months away, he returns to Bull Bay just in the nick of time to save his home from ruin.
Filled with humor and memorable characters, Little John Crow reminds us of the importance of accepting our differences and remembering that life offers a place and purpose for all of us.
64 pages, Hardcover
Published November 2, 2021
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November 19, 2023
Little John Crow takes us to Jamaica, in Bull Bay, at the edge of the majestic Blue Mountains, where we meet a baby vulture who’s shocked when he and his friends learn that his parents are scavengers. The discovery causes most of his friends to desert him. Shortly after this shocking discovery, however, Little John Crow experiences a terrible tragedy that drives him to run away, leaving the region void of vultures, which upsets the ecosystem.
MY THOUGHTS
Yea, I bought this book because a Jamaican wrote it. But the play on the title also tickled me too. I don’t know if folks in other countries call vultures this, but in Jamaica we call them “John Crow.” Don’t ask me why we do so; I have no idea, lol. But, yea, the title of this book made me chuckle, and also when we learn that Little John Crow’s dad is “Rustle Crow,” lol.
The story is ok. I wasn’t very interested in it, unfortunately, but I did learn a bit from it, since I know almost nothing about vultures, other than that they feed on the dead and are cloaked in superstitions people have about them. That last bit is touched on when Little John Crow’s friends seem to desert him when they learn what his parents do. (To clarify, they are all baby animals and were curious about what their parents did because, of course, they want to be like their parents when they grow up.)
When tragedy strikes and Little John Crow runs away, he embarks on a quest of self-discovery (kinda making me think of Simba in Lion King), and learns what it is vultures really do and why it’s vital. Of course, the story ends on a positive note, and there’s a bit of additional information in the back about vultures. The most interesting I learned is that a flock of vultures is sometimes called “a kettle.” I don’t know why that bit stood out to me so much.
ART STYLE
I like the art, especially of the end pages, which depict the Blue Mountains range in Jamaica. Throughout, the illustrations have a slight cartoony aspect to them. And unlike the picture books mentioned above, the colors here tend to be darker and almost muted in contrast.
Of course, I made a guess about what media was used for the illustrations, and I thought maybe they are acrylic paintings. The end pages and several pages within make me think they are probably all paintings. I just wish the colors weren’t as muted so that the details in the darker areas could stand out more.
OVERALL: ★★★☆☆
A gorgeously illustrated picture book about a young vulture living in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains that also packs in some facts about vultures.
As posted on Zezee with Books.
MY THOUGHTS
Yea, I bought this book because a Jamaican wrote it. But the play on the title also tickled me too. I don’t know if folks in other countries call vultures this, but in Jamaica we call them “John Crow.” Don’t ask me why we do so; I have no idea, lol. But, yea, the title of this book made me chuckle, and also when we learn that Little John Crow’s dad is “Rustle Crow,” lol.
The story is ok. I wasn’t very interested in it, unfortunately, but I did learn a bit from it, since I know almost nothing about vultures, other than that they feed on the dead and are cloaked in superstitions people have about them. That last bit is touched on when Little John Crow’s friends seem to desert him when they learn what his parents do. (To clarify, they are all baby animals and were curious about what their parents did because, of course, they want to be like their parents when they grow up.)
When tragedy strikes and Little John Crow runs away, he embarks on a quest of self-discovery (kinda making me think of Simba in Lion King), and learns what it is vultures really do and why it’s vital. Of course, the story ends on a positive note, and there’s a bit of additional information in the back about vultures. The most interesting I learned is that a flock of vultures is sometimes called “a kettle.” I don’t know why that bit stood out to me so much.
ART STYLE
I like the art, especially of the end pages, which depict the Blue Mountains range in Jamaica. Throughout, the illustrations have a slight cartoony aspect to them. And unlike the picture books mentioned above, the colors here tend to be darker and almost muted in contrast.
Of course, I made a guess about what media was used for the illustrations, and I thought maybe they are acrylic paintings. The end pages and several pages within make me think they are probably all paintings. I just wish the colors weren’t as muted so that the details in the darker areas could stand out more.
OVERALL: ★★★☆☆
A gorgeously illustrated picture book about a young vulture living in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains that also packs in some facts about vultures.
As posted on Zezee with Books.
Displaying 1 of 1 review