New Kids in the Flock - Elise Gravel - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Elise Gravel
SERIES: Arlo & Pips, #3
GENRE: Children's Graphic Novel.
PUBLICATION DATE: April 5, 2022
RATING: 4.5 stars.


In a Nutshell: The third book of the Arlo & Pips early-reader chapter book series. The story, the wit, the trivia, and the illustrations come together in one adorable package. My favourite book of this series. What a wonderful finale!



Arlo and Marla are now together. Their love has been… errrmm… fruitful, and there are... literally… new kids on the block in the flock. With the help of Pips, now promoted to “Uncle Pips”, the young parents navigate this new phase of their lives.

As is clear, this series is progressing though Arlo’s life sequentially. From a young crow in the first book to a chap in love in the next one, Arlo is now a responsible parent. Don’t for a second imagine that this indicates a stop to his bragging! Au contraire, it only means that he has new points to brag about. This time though, he cannot be blamed as every parent loves to brag about their children.

Pips is, as usual, my favourite character. I simply love the way he stands by his friend even as he is rolling his eyes over Arlo’s tall claims. He sets a great example of responsible friendship.

Thanks to the young brood, we get plenty of facts related to baby crows and even the parenting habits of adult crows. The facts come out through the story as well as the ever-present footnotes. The illustrations are in the same style as the other books of this series: simple but highly effective.

While I enjoyed the earlier books as well, this book was easily my favourite. I am not sure if it was because of the parenting-related storyline or the humour, but somehow, this book was a notch above the rest.

All three books have been funny as well as informative. (Except on one factor: I still don’t know what kind of bird Pips is!) My heart bids a fond adieu to this series. It's been great learning more about my favourite corvid courtesy Arlo.

Much recommended, both for the humour and for the trivia. I am sure kids will enjoy all three books.

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