Mo and Crow by Jo Kasch. Illus. by Jonathan Bentley

Mo lived alone in his house surrounded by a high wall that kept out the rain and the wind and anything else that may happen by. But one day a tapping began. He blocked his ears, whistled, and put his hat over his ears. The tapping did not stop, and eventually a stone popped out of the wall and a crow's head appeared. Mo picked up the stone and put it back in its place. Undeterred the crow kept knocking more stones out of the wall, and just as quickly, Mo replaced them.

Mo told the crow to go, and shut his door but no matter what he said the crow stayed. He went to bed and when he woke the next morning, the crow was gone. He called out, and put the stones in his wheelbarrow and went to the wall to begin the repairs. But looking out, he saw the world. Where the wall had been was a view he had not seen before. He called the crow, and eventually it appeared, and the two settled down together.

The stunning watercolour and pencil illustrations by award winning Bentley, will captivate the readers as they read of the barriers breaking down between the two protagonists. Crow keeps trying, undermining the defences Mo puts in place, chipping at the wall he has built, getting under his guard. At first Mo repels all advances, but once used to the crow being there and seeing the world outside his walled garden, he relents, inviting the bird into his home.

A lovely tale of building bridges not walls, this story is particularly apt when readers hear of the physical walls being built in places around the world.

Teacher notes are available.

Themes: Walls, Barriers, Friendship, Reconciliation, Harmony.

Fran Knight