Six crows battle a farmer for control of a wheat field. The farmer makes frightening scarecrows, which the crows try to scare off with terrifying kites. Finally, an owl helps the two parties talk over a solution. The fable is illustrated with clean, bright collage. The owl's claim that "words can do magic" is both the tale's moral and a storyteller's creed.

A war of scarecrows begins when a farmer tries to banish six crows from his wheatfield. He creates a horned, menacing figure; the crows fight back by building a giant, ugly bird to hover above the fields like a shadow. The owl intervenes and convinces both sides to talk peace. This moral tale eloquently depicts the pointlessness and futility of the ancient war of fear. As always, Lionni's characteristic primitive art and abstract forms appeal both to the naive perceptions of children and the universal sensitivity of all readers. Ages 3-7. (March)

PreS-Gr 2 Lionni's story about a farmer facing marauding crows teaches a lesson about making peace in the midst of escalating conflict. The farmer is enraged by six noisy crows who keep eating the wheat in his field , and he builds a scarecrow to frighten them off. The crows are disturbed, but not willing to give up, so they design a kite to scare off the monster. The farmer then builds a bigger and fiercer scarecrow, and the crows a fiercer kite. Meanwhile, the wheat is dying from neglect. A watching owl manages to bring the two sides together, and they work out a compromise. This brief, simple story works on a literal level as well as on a metaphoric one. It is illustrated with Lionni's usual handsome, colorful collages which project well for reading aloud to groups. Amy Spaulding, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn