King of the Birds - Elise Gravel - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Elise Gravel

SERIES: Arlo & Pips, #1

GENRE: Children's Graphic Novel.

PUBLICATION DATE: October 6, 2020

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A cute early-reader graphic novel with two birds in the lead, one of whom is a tad too vain. Plenty of fun, plenty of fun facts. Much recommended!

Arlo the crow has just moved from the country to a big city. As he meets a new bird named Pips (I couldn’t figure out what species Pips belonged to!), Arlo begins bragging about … well… everything! His ramp-worthy looks, his singing talent, his genius brain, his shiny-things collection… You name it, Arlo flaunts it! Pips is sceptical about Arlo’s claims, but he soon learns that Arlo does have quite a few amazing skills. If only he weren’t so boastful about them!

The story is presented in the form of three interlinked chapters that reveal the personality of the two characters wonderfully. Each story takes the new “friendship” a step ahead.

While it is tough to like a pompous character, Arlo endears himself to us – this is a big achievement on the author’s part. He's quite a braggart (to put it mildly), but he also goes to prove his claims with concrete action. (Funnily, most of the claims do turn out to be true. No comments on the singing skills, though!)

Both the main characters are well developed. Arlo is supremely confident in his position, but little Pips won my heart more. Throughout the story, he is a patient, wise, and helpful friend who doesn’t hesitate to stop Arlo when the bragging goes too far. (See how he is yelling at Arlo on the cover – hilarious!) I’d love to see how their friendship progresses in the remaining two books of this series.

The book smartly uses Arlo’s boasts to present several fabulous facts about crows via footnotes. Every footnote is indicated by a bright red star and written neatly at the bottom of the page, making it easy for little eyes to spot. I am usually ambiguous about footnotes, but in this case, I think the author has put footnotes to excellent use. Such an innovative way of learning more about a bird that's often ignored! I love crows so it did my heart happy to see a book celebrate them in such a unique manner.

The illustrations are equally adorable. As is needed with such books, the graphics are kept simple. The animals are sketched in a cute manner, and the typeface is also appropriate for kids. I loved the little onomatopoeic add-ons on a few pages. The colours are limited to the basic primary set and there’s no shading or shadowing, thereby limiting distractions and keeping the focus on the characters, their expressions, and the storyline.

The only, and I do mean ONLY, thing I would have changed about the book would be to make Arlo realise that he shouldn’t be so vain. It’s good to be good at something, but making sure the whole world knows the same? Not sure if I want kids to inculcate that habit! I hope kids listen to Pips and his wise advice about vanity not being a good trait.

All in all, this is a fabulous story that presents an ode to crows through the character of a crow who is presenting an ode to himself. (That sentence went a bit meta! 🤭) This is the first book of the trilogy, with each graphic chapter book focussing on Arlo and Pips, after whom the series is named. I will be reading the other two books of this series, so time will tell if Arlo dials down his braggometer.

Much recommended! The writing and structure makes this a perfect read for littlies aged 4-9 years. This would also be a wonderful option to early readers who are transitioning from picture books to chapter books.

This was borrowed from my library, which has all the three books of the series in stock – Yay!