posted on 15 Mar 2024

Clever Crow by Chris Butterworth, illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill

I’m no ornithologist but I do recognise and admire the extraordinary beauty of birds and find their role in the eco-system fascinating. My personal favourites are the raptors which I often see hovering in the skies of the Worcestershire landscape near where I live but, I must confess, this superb book about the crow family has made me add them to my list of birds that deserve awe and admiration.

The crow family of birds is a large one – over 100 different types – and they’ve become astonishingly adept at living around human beings. In some ways they are so ubiquitous that we simply don’t notice them but, of course, farmers have historically spent a good deal of time and ingenuity trying to scare them off!

The crow family isn’t one of nature’s flashy show-offs – they are mostly plain black or dull coloured and don’t go in for acrobatics in the sky above your head. And they most certainly don’t endear themselves to you with their raucous cawing ‘song’ – not exactly the most beautiful birdsong you’ll ever hear.

But if they don’t impress with their aesthetics, there’s one thing they most certainly having going in their favour – they’re smart.

“The big skull holds a big brain. Scientists think crows may be the smartest of all birds – perhaps as clever as monkeys and apes.”

They have learned to use tools and to find cunning ways of problem-solving. But they also know how to enjoy themselves and you might well see them in groups just playing games.

You’ll come to the end of this book filled with a new respect for the crow family. Although the book is aimed at younger readers, it will certainly interest a much older age group – me for example – and it has the added advantage of some superb artwork from Olivia Lomenech Gill to effectively illustrate the text. Writing in appreciation of her work on the Dockside Gallery website, poet, Kathleen Jamie

 “Animals and children are Olivia’s touchstones, all living creatures in fact, in their various landscapes. There are some imagined beasts too, but living ones triumph.  Olivia calls herself ‘an untaught artist and accidental illustrator’. Perhaps that’s her secret. Her work speaks to everyone, unforced, and full of soul’.”

Clever Crow is available now from Walker Books and can be obtained from your local independent bookshop – who will be happy to order it for you if they don’t have them on the shelf.

 

Terry Potter

March 2024