Picture Book Buds are a fun and easy way to incorporate literacy into nature study. Read a book (you can even read it outside!) and then enjoy the related activity and snack suggestions!
What the Crow Saw Below
Written by: Robert Tregoning, Illustrated by: Greg Stobbs
What the Crow Saw Below is a new book that I was able to read as an arc copy. I was excited to get my hands on it because I love crows and the illustrations are freaking awesome. For some reason there have been a whole slew of crow picture books lately and I haven’t been terribly excited with any of them until now. (In fairness I haven’t gotten to them all yet..) But, back to this book, honestly I would recommend it based on the illustrations alone– it is really beautiful. That said the story is sweet too. It’s written in rhyme (and it’s on point!) and makes for an awesome read-aloud. When I first started reading I was initially disappointed, the crows in the story are afraid of everything, and that is not how my noisy, curious neighborhood friends roll. But then I read further and realized it was kind of an origin story for how crows became so curious, which of course may also benefit some little human friends too. It was a lovely story! Crows, while super curious and often downright silly, are in fact very cautious when approaching something new. They also share information intergenerationally which I love to see subtly reflected in this fun story! This would be a great book to kick off a crow study, a bird unit, or a subtle SEL reminder to come out of our shells a bit and to get out there and explore! Crows are a great bird to study because they are literally everywhere– cities, rural places, and every place inbetween. This picture book is fun to read and brilliant to look at.
Thank you to Flyaway Books for providing this book for review consideration via netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Craft:
Crow Trinkets
I was feeding my noisy neighborhood crows one day while thinking about the craft I was originally planning to make for this Book Bud, and it suddenly occurred to me that I should make a shiny crow trinket! Crows notoriously love to collect shiny things, so I wanted to make crow trinkets because they are cool, but also because I was curious to see if the crows would take them. (I had also recently come across a cool photo of a crow’s nest covered in necklaces and shiny trinkets.) So you can make these crow trinkets for yourself, or you can make them to give to crows. I think they look a bit like milagros (which in Spanish means “miracles” and refers to small, often metal, religious charms traditionally used in Latin America and other regions as votive offerings or symbols of hope, protection, and good luck) and am thinking about hammering some onto the face of the log we use to feed our crows. This project is fairly simple, upper elementary aged kids can do it easily, younger elementary should be ok with supervision and maybe some help cutting, and for preschool aged friends I would precut the shapes and just let them draw on them.
You can either use a empty tomato paste tubes cut open and flattened with a wooden spoon, or an aluminum can, cleaned, cut open and flattened. (I like to bend it over the edge of a counter.) The tomato paste tubes are softer and easier to work with, but a little harder to come by. The soda cans do the job, but if you have a younger audience I would try to get the tomato paste. (The tomatoes also gold while the cans are silver if that matters to you)
My most important tip / rant is that you MUST use tin snips. As I recently told a class of unruly 5th graders, I know you can use scissors, but you should not! Scissors will leave a very sharp edge and you will eventually cut yourself on it no matter how careful you try to be. Tinsnips will crimp the edge of the cut and prevent it from being a weapon. If you don’t have tinsnips they are worth borrowing or spending a few dollars on. Don’t do this project with scissors and absolutely don’t leave super sharp trinkets out for the crows.
Materials:
- cleaned and flattened tomato paste containers or soda cans
- tin snips (I mean it. No scissors.)
- scrap cardboard
- a ballpoint pen (it doesn’t have to work)
- crow template (linked below, or draw your own!)
Method:
If you haven’t already, clean your tomato paste tube/ soda can and cut it flat with the tin snips. (adult or older kid) Flatten it out. Cut out the crow template if you are using it (the only part of this project where you can use scissors), and either trace it or draw freehand on the printed side of the can/tube.
Carefully cut out the crow shape with tin snips. They aren’t quite as maneuverable as scissors, so take your time and make more than one cut as needed. Check to make sure you don’t have any sharp edges and trim as needed.
Once the shape is cut out, decorate it. Place it, shiny side face down, on the scrap cardboard. The printed side should be facing you. Use the ballpoint pen to draw shapes and patterns. You are using the pressure of the metal pen to dent lines into the trinket. Flip it over a few times as you work and see how it looks.
When you are done you can poke a little hole in it to hang it up (use an awl) or leave it as is. Milagros are traditionally hammered onto wooden surfaces, or it just makes a nice shiny object. We left one out for our crows and while they didn’t take it, they were clearly interested and have moved it around several times!
Snack:
Crow Snacks for People
Crows, much like humans, are opportunists and will eat just about anything. In fact, just yesterday I saw one sitting in a tree with a doughnut bag happily munching on a stolen doughnut. For the purpose of this snack, I focused on things that crows especially like and that didn’t come from the trash. And as a bonus if you have some extra you can share it with your new crow friends! Obviously skip the peanuts in the case of allergy, sunflower seeds would be an easy swap. (But crows love peanuts!) Ideally don’t feed any salted peanuts to the crows– stick to the raw ones– keep the salted ones for people.
Ingredients:
- raw peanuts in the shell
- salt (optional)
- grapes
- hardboiled eggs
Method:
You could certainly skip roasting the peanuts yourself, but it’s fun and they taste extra delicious this way. Preheat your oven to 350°f.
Place some parchment on a baking sheet. Spread the peanuts in an even layer. Sprinkle with salt if using.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until it smells nice toasty. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Serve with grapes and hardboiled eggs as desired (You can leave the egg shells out and the crows will snatch them!)
Crow Snacks for Crows
Feeding crows is fun and easy. Peanuts seem to be their absolute favorite, and they are too big for most other birds to eat so you know that your crow friends are the ones getting them even if you don’t see it. Except for squirrels… who will try their darnest to snatch them away. Once you have been feeding crows for a bit, they will start to recognize you and squawk at you for snacks when they see you. They can and will recognize faces and will pass that knowledge through generations! Mine followed me all the way to my neighbors house one day when I forgot to put out their nuts. They are also super curious and can get treats out of puzzle boxes. If you want to watch a truly fantastical crow puzzle for inspiration check out Mark Robe’s here. Get your neighborhood crows used to the idea of accepting food from you first though before you attempt any wild puzzles. Much like in the book, crows will be quite cautious at first.
Ingredients:
- raw peanuts in the shell (no salt this time!)
Method:
Find a place to leave your crows food. It should be flat, sturdy and somewhat elevated off the ground. The important thing is that you always leave the food in the same place so that they know where to expect it. A picnic table, wide railing, or other study flat surface will do the job. We use a old log with a flat top.
In the beginning you’ll have to just put the peanuts out and wait for the crows to notice. Be patient, this can take some time. Once they start to expect treats from you they will be very vocal about letting you know when they want snacks though. Try to leave treats around the same time and in the same place every day. Just a few nuts will do, you don’t want so many that you attract curious squirrels!
If you can, find a place that is a little hidden to watch and observe them checking out the peanuts. They’ll be pretty reserved at first, but after a few weeks they be swooping around and carrying on and it’s great fun to see!
Work up to some puzzle challenges if you are feeling whacky!
