Hattie Mole is stressed out by her family’s move to the countryside. Going to a new school and making new friends is terrifying. After what she thinks is a disastrous day at school, Hattie makes a scarecrow called Crow to protect her little den in the school playground. However, Crow soon has a life of his own and decides he needs to protect Hattie. 

Hattie realizes things have gotten out of hand. If she doesn’t sort them out, she may end up being alone with no friends. 

The story comes from Hattie’s first-person POV. 

The book’s premise is wonderful, and I had great expectations from it. It’s never easy for some people to make new friends. It’s even scarier for kids to relocate and fit into an established environment. Unfortunately... it goes downhill quickly.

Hattie is a little girl (probably around eight) with a pet, Sid the Rat. She has an older brother, Oliver, and a dad who’s a chef. While the brother and father have some roles, the book mainly deals with Hattie and her school life. 

The writing is easy to read and has simple language suitable for little ones. The font and print are children-friendly, as it’s a norm with the publisher’s books. 

I’m not sure if Hattie is neurodivergent or is simply struggling to express her emotions through the right channel, common for a child of her age . After all, we don’t have enough information to see if her father and brother have addressed her concerns instead of simply telling her everything will be fine. We know that doesn’t help. 

I like how the Crow makes things worse, and Hattie realizes things, but the tone doesn’t sit right. Hattie’s voice is a little off for almost 80% of the book. This could also be because the story is short, with little background information and basic character development. This one should have been a bit longer to establish Hattie’s fears, dilemmas, worries, etc., instead of making her sound rude. 

The vibes are off, especially as Katya is established as a friendly girl trying to help and make friends, and Struan is a jovial little kid. Also, no adult actually talks to Hattie about how things are going on. 

There’s no backing for the magic (except a possible hint through Oliver). Kids wouldn’t bother with such details, of course. But as an adult, if a book has elements of magic, I do like them present throughout or explained in some way. Maybe it’s a town where such things are common. How fun would that be! 

The illustrations are messy-cute. That’s not a word, but it is now. The pencil sketches have rough lines and resemble children’s drawings, albeit with more details. I like that they suit the storyline and the POV. Hattie’s hair is the best. I always love kids with messy pigtails. Who has a super neat hairstyle as a kid anyway? The scarecrow is the cutest, even when he is busy trying to be scary… boo! 

To summarize, Crow is a short story about relocating, making friends, and understanding that friendship is a two-way thing (or it could have been). I wanted this to be a lot better, though. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Barrington Stoke, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

#Crow #NetGalley