A Storytelling of Ravens

May 1, 2018

K-Gr 3-Collective names of animals are used as a variety of critters engage in activities that may-or may not-be readily associated with them. For example, "The memory of elephants knew the peanut field had to be around here somewhere." Another entry states, "The parliament of owls expected the bill to pass unanimously, but there was one lone hoot of dissent." Mixed-media graphic style illustrations are humorous and bright. They effectively use broad, bold shapes on cheerily colored backgrounds, appealing to an array of picture book readers and sure to stand up to multiple examinations. This book is similar to Anna Wright's A Tower of Giraffes, but with a more sophisticated slant. While clever, the animals' undertakings may be understood more readily by savvy adults and older students than by younger children. VERDICT This artful introduction to nomenclature will likely inform and engage readers of broad ages.-Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library

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Starred review from March 15, 2018
A menagerie of common creatures portrayed in uncommon ways.This book riffing on animals' collective nouns has the declarative force of a George R.R. Martin title and the head-tilting creativity of Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons. Debut author Lukoff's pithy statements are so bold and unexpected that each of the dozen or so situations described is presented in a double-page spread and given wide--though richly colored--illustrative berth. The volume opens on a cryptic note: "The nuisance of cats blamed it on the dog," immediately driving readers to Nelson's vivid mixed-media illustration, on the hunt for what "it" might be. While Nelson's witty depiction rewards (a group of bemused cats sits loosely lassoed together by a few loops of yarn with a lone strand leading back to the mouth of a sleeping dog), one must still infer both what "it" is (cats tied up, a skein of yarn used for ulterior purposes?) and who's really being considered the "nuisance"--the cat posse or the dog? Each of Lukoff's seemingly arbitrary declarations operates similarly, employing sophisticated vocabulary and some behavioral characteristics of the animals described--monkeys, giraffes, sheep, frogs, the eponymous ravens--to paint a scene, perhaps the most hilarious and poetic of which involves hippos: "The bloat of hippopotamuses raced up the river. Five words: explosion at the cupcake factory."Offbeat nonsense humor of the highest order: not to be missed. (Picture book. 3-8)

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July 1, 2018
In each of fourteen dapper mixed-media spreads, Lukoff christens an animal group with a collective noun reflecting their attributes--e.g., "The ostentation of peacocks suspected an intruder in their midst" shows a modestly plumaged bird crashing a peacock party. Some readers of this There Is a Tribe of Kids read-alike may wish for a spread-to-spread narrative link; most will revel in the clever wordplay.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)