Crow Baby (Helen Milroy, Fremantle)

Set in a time long ago, when the universe was newly created and things were ‘unpredictable and unique’, a baby is born containing two spirits—one human and one crow. The baby grows up to be Daisy Crow, a girl who lives with humans by day and flies with the crows in her dreams. Part of a warm and loving community of humans, and with an old and wise crow as guardian, Daisy is curious and caring, gifted with the power to become a great healer. When faced with a bushfire that endangers her human family, she must make a difficult decision that changes her world forever. Author and illustrator Helen Milroy—whose previous titles include the Tales from the Bush Mob series—is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In her latest book, she skilfully combines various elements to great effect. She blends earthy colours with vibrant technicolour patterns and harmonises a dot painting technique with figurative elements. Crow Baby is a bittersweet story of sacrifice, metamorphosis and change, but not one of tragedy. It introduces key First Nations concepts of dream journeys and spiritual gifts to young readers aged 6+ and gives them much to think about and discuss.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Fay Helfenbaum is a freelance writer and editor and was a bookseller for five years. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Friday Unlocked reviews Reviews