Crows hold a special place in my heart. I was first-on and last-off my school bus as a kid, living on a wooded road in what was then rural Virginia. Those waits for the bus were lonely, and the company I kept on those cold, dark mornings was crows. One would caw from the creekline, and I’d caw back, and others would join, and we would all have properly greeted the morning and each other. With that love as background, I was delighted to discover the new picture book I AM WE: HOW CROWS COME TOGETHER TO SURVIVE, written by Leslie Barnard Booth and illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey. The book explores roosting behavior, explaining why crows join forces to create groups that can number in the thousands to survive the winter.
I Am We has been out barely a month, but is positioned to be an award-winner. It has already garnered starred reviews from three of the major professional book review organizations: Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and Booklist.
Cover of the picture book I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive, written by Leslie Barnard Booth and illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey
Not only does this book feature one of my favorite birds, the American Crow (you can read another KidLit Bird Book about crows here) but it is a perfect fit for October. Illustrator Alexandra’s crows—with their red glowing eyes—combine with Leslie’s tight, lyrical spell-binding text to create a story that teachers and parents will be happy to read and reread. This is a “Spooky Season” story that has nothing to do with costumes or candy, skulls or skeletons. Instead, it’s a STEM book (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) that can be easily woven into lesson in areas such as animal adaptations and poetic devices.
Dusk, and crows coming together… “So we blanket every surface. We cling to every edge. We bloom from every branch, every limb, every ledge.”
Technically, this book is classified as “Informational Fiction.” It isn’t considered nonfiction only because it is told from the voice and point of view of the crow: “Our spell is simply this: I follow him, and he follows she, and they follow me, and me turns into we—”
Author Leslie Barnard Booth has taught from the preschool to the college level, and her understanding of children’s wonder and awe shines through in her lyrical books about science and nature. She says that she writes for “the children who are noticing those little things that adults walk right past.” Resources on her website for I Am We include a video with the sights and sounds of thousands of crows gathering to sleep, a storytime guide, crow identification, a crow’s nest design challenge and more.
Illustrator Alexandra Finkeldey is noted for her drawings of birds, and is sought out by art directors and publishers for their bird books for children, as seen in Saving the Spotted Owl and When the Storks Came Home. In I Am We, her art take the crows from sunset to the dangers of the night to the glories of dawn.
The first blush of dawn: “Now we lift off. Now we disperse. The weave is unwoven. The magic reversed.”
In any science-related picture book, I always recommend turning first to the end, to read the backmatter. Those pages of information help put the story into a broader context, and help provide answers to many of the questions kids might ask. Backmatter in I Am We not only includes sections on roosting, but also on the crow’s brains and communication and foraging techniques.
Backmatter in I AM WE provides additional information on these extraordinary birds.
In my hometown of Denver, there’s a large roost in downtown. I was fascinated to learn in I Am We that one reason for the increasing numbers of urban roosts is that hunting is prohibited in cities. Plus, of course, cities are warmer!
This book belongs in libraries or schools, and its spooky, scary feel makes it a natural for Halloween collections. It is a true delight to read aloud.
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I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive, written by Leslie Barnard Booth and illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey
Chronical Books, 2025
ISBN: 978-1797226156
44 pages, ages 5-8
US $18.99; £13.99 UK
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