I Am We – Perfect Picture Book Friday

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Open this book and immerse yourself in the powerful cadence, the rhythm that drives the narrative forward.

I spill across the sky like ink—

fill the night with jagged cries.

I have one thousand eyes.

I see all.

Know all.

Am all.

Now take a little extra time to admire the word choice and imagery. And then move on to the next spread.

What I mean to say is this:

I am not I at all.

 

You see,

when winter comes

and hunger thrums

and danger hovers overhead—

Feel the music? Then linger on the eye of that bird and all that’s reflected in it. The snow on its feathers. And……..is that the horizon reflected in its beak, a vast flat, dark landscape? I see two different images there.

Ready for the page turn?

one set of eyes

isn’t nearly enough.

The thesis of this book resides within the subtext: community keeps us safe. So now the book must fulfill the promise of the thesis. Does it? Yes, and so much more! Early on, one spread refers to crows sounding like witches (cue the famous witch scene from Macbeth!), but the reader is quickly reassured, “We aren’t like that.”

Instead, we learn how much crows work together to stay safe from predators…especially “on this dark black, ice-cold, owl-haunted night.” Also, don’t forget there are other “dark-seeing, night-feeding, crow-eating creatures…” like prowling felines.

So crows “blanket every surface….bloom from every branch…” and when “danger wants a bite…” they “churn the sky.” When they have outmaneuvered their predators, they’re rewarded with (one of my favorite spreads from the book)

Soft,

deep,

dreamy

sleep.

…until the dawn when they disperse, only to reunite on the next winter’s night.

Oooh, I am smitten by how this story expresses the power of community through words and images that also convey the atmosphere of a dark winter night. Brava to the creators!

Back matter includes information about crows’ brains, their families, how they talk, how they’re social learners and crafty foragers, how they survive in winter, why they roost, and what roosting looks like in urban settings.

This book begs to be read aloud. Enjoy!

Activities:

Check out all of the educator resources offered on the author’s website.

Make your own murder of origami crows that you can perch in a tree outside or bring a small branch inside to for perching. If you can’t find any branches, perch the crows on plants in your yard or inside your home.

Check out this National Geographic video about tool-making crows.

Title: I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive

Author: Leslie Barnard Booth

Illustrated by: Alexandra Finkeldey

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2025

Themes: crows, community, survival

Ages: PreK through elementary school

For more perfect picture book recommendations, please visit Susanna Hill’s website.