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Written in 1944 by Aldous Huxley as a Christmas gift for his niece, The Crows of Pearblossom tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Crow, who live in a cottonwood tree. The hungry Rattlesnake that lives at the bottom of the tree has a nasty habit of stealing Mrs. Crow's eggs before they can hatch, so Mr. Crow and his wise friend, Old Man Owl, devise a sneaky plan to trick him.
This funny story of cleverness triumphing over greed, similar in tone and wit to the work of A. A. Milne, shows a new side of a great writer.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1944
"I cannot fly, I have no wings; I cannot run, I have no legs; But I can creep where the black bird sings, and eat her speckled eggs, ha, ha; And eat her speckled eggs."
Because of the popularity of the book, every other review will include facts like, "the only children's book written by Aldous Huxley,"..."originally written for his niece," and there will be comments about the portrayal of female characters and overall violence and morbidity in the story, and I don't disagree with those points. I would put forward that each work is a member of the period of time in which it came from, and perhaps it could be understood from that point of view. At a minimum, it brings up a huge degree of conversation with children about how times change.