German / Germany
Von Raben und Krähen
(About ravens and crows)
Teckentrup, Britta
(text/illus.)
Berlin: Jacoby & Stuart, [2021]. – 163 p.
ISBN 978-3-96428-089-3
Raven | Crow | Cultural history
Reading age: 8+
White Ravens issue: 2022
Will crows and ravens become the new dinosaurs of the nursery? These fascinating birds do certainly have the potential. There are 129 different types of corvids, e.g. the rook, the hooded crow, the jackdaw, or the common raven; the latter is also dubbed »king of the corvids«, because it is the largest songbird on earth. Besides solid facts and results of zoological-empirical research (for example on social behaviour and intelligence), Britta Teckentrup has also included fairy tales and myths about these birds in her multifaceted book. Her pictures are also multilayered: On the one hand, they capture details in a naturalistic style; on the other hand, her high-contrast illustrations, such as those of flocks of black birds against a yellow sky, evoke a magical and poetic atmosphere of their own. This is a book that invites readers to flip through the pages again and again, it is well researched and to the point, and it lets ravens and crows be the stars. So, truly the new dinos of the nursery?! [IG]