A stern-tempered corvid guards an astonishing secret in the disarmingly adorable, sneakily hilarious picture book Cranky Crabby Crow (Saves the World) by Caldecott Honor winner Corey R. Tabor (Mel Fell; Papilio).
Crow, a small blackbird with an oversized head and stick legs, stands in his place on the power line and glares from under his floating unibrow. A host of twee, conventionally adorable would-be animal friends arrive one by one, only for Crow to banish them with a severe "KAW!" Eventually Cat warns him of becoming a "lonely crow shouting at the world" but meets the same response. Finally alone, Crow gets a call on the phone hidden in the equipment box. A voice commends him for clearing the area and tells him, "The world is counting on you." Crow promptly takes a hidden elevator in the power pole to a subterranean base, dons a spacesuit complete with tail pocket, and blasts off in a rocket to destroy an asteroid headed straight for Earth. Mission accomplished, Crow hosts a twilight power line party for the other animals, who watch the light show that is the asteroid fragments burning up in Earth's atmosphere.
Tabor subverts the trope of the grouch who learns the lesson of loneliness in a story that portrays a real, albeit absurdist, need for alone time. The sweet, simple characters are usually shown against a dreamily washed-out blue sky. Short sentences should make this story easily digestible for little readers, while their grownups should appreciate the meteoric plot twist. Expect a KAW-rus of laughter. --Jaclyn Fulwood, youth services manager, Allen County Public Library