Free Kindle download. Very cute children's story about Blacky the Crow's adventures in the forest and his obsession with eating eggs. Blacky is crafty and self-serving but he does have a nice side - sometimes. Each chapter has a moral ala Aesop's Fables. An Example: There is no compromise with right and wrong. A half-right is not as good as a whole-right and a half-wrong is still very wrong.

I have my grandma's copy of this well loved and read book. I can remember reading it at my great grandma's house when I was little and I have read it to my children.

Very fun and imaginative. Blacky the Crow always finds mischief.

This was a very enjoyable and endearing experience. The themes and stories in here feel both nostalgic and safe while original and fun.

It's an amazing read for young readers and a fun time during the holidays.

I probably found this cuter than my son did. Blacky starts out as a bit of a scamp, but redeems himself in the end. A great quick light read.

My kids loved hearing about Blacky's Adventures!

Blacky the Crow was the first book I remember reading as a child. I saw it for sale recently, with the same cover from the original year it was published, that I read.

It is an enjoyable story. Yes, I am 60 years plus after reading it for the first time, but still it's a simple well written story of a few of the adventures of Blacky the Crow and his friends of the Green Forest. Even though it was originally released in 1922, it is a wonderful tale for today's children to read or have read to them. The author stresses many of the morals which we hold dear today, but are inserted into the story in such a way, it's just part of the tale.

I'm glad I bought it and plan to give it to my grandson to read as, hopefully, his first book.

Very easy children's book. Simple story lines about a clever crow that gets in and out of mischief. Each chapter is headed by a "moral", emphasizing intelligence, loyalty, ingenuity, taking risks etc.

I know that it is more for younger kids, but it has certain aspects that make it okay for ANY age group. It was really fun and had mystery, but it was clean and funny.

Month of January 2022: Young Reader’s Classics

Not listed in the Accelerated Reader’s Program (ages 8-14 yrs, 2nd-8th grade)
A children’s classic originally published in 1922.

Thornton Burgess grew up in Sandwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he spent his time exploring around the water and woods and fell in love with nature. He started telling these stories to his one and only son. Then, he began a daily column in the New York Tribune. Finally, they were published in book form. His first novel, “Old Mother West Wind”, was published in 1910. They are stories that teach.

After reading this adventure story, kids will love envisioning what the crows may be thinking and doing next time they are out playing in the woods and hear them cawing. Burgess combines real characteristics of the crows behaviors with teachable moments for children…and the child may not even realize they are being taught because it’s the animals talking.

Blacky the Crow has two adventures. First, he has to decide just how important it is to satisfy his hunger for a couple of owl eggs. Does he risk his life and the lives of his friends? Second, is it worth risking his own life to warn his duck friends of the hunter who is hiding out nearby and coercing them into the area by putting out corn every morning, giving them a false sense of security?

I loved it! This would be a really good bedtime story to read to your young kids. Maybe a chapter or two a night. I’m thinking my two young hunter grandsons would love this. They have very imaginative minds. But I don’t think it will turn them off from deer hunting in the least. They love it too much.

READ IT FREE

Can be downloaded for free to your Kindle or read online at Project Gutenberg:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4979

Written by a real conservationist who understood the outdoors, May 16, 2017

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This review is from: Blacky the Crow (Kindle Edition)

Blacky was my second favorite Burgess character when I was growing up. A rascal, a trouble maker, a thief and very sly, Burgess somehow makes Blacky likeable and fills his book with life lessons. I think that one reason I like Blacky was my experiences with real crows on my grandfather's farm. They were thieves who spoiled more than they ate, which was no small matter to a poor farmer. They were still interesting and difficult opponents. Sly, cautious, seldom taken by surprise, not fooled for long by scarecrows or decoys and hard to hunt, the real crows were every bit as clever as Blacky.

Some may object to an apparent anti-hunting message in this book. A closer read will reveal that Burgess is objecting to unethical hunting practices. True, Blacky and the others do not like hunters or their "terrible" guns. This did not bother me as a child who loved nature and hunting. Of course the anthropomorphic prey animals would not like hunters, human or other animals. Burgess was a hunter and a naturalist who understood and loved the outdoors and communicated that in his stories. If you haven't already done so, introduce a child to Burgess to help begin a love affair with the outdoors.

As usual, there are no illustrations in the free Kindle edition.

Nog een boekje uit deze serie dat een heel leuk verhaaltje vertelt. Op een dag merkt Blacky dat het oude nest van de havik ingenomen is door Hooty de uil en zijn vrouwtje. Dan ziet Blacky dat er twee eieren in het nest liggen. Hij doet er alles aan om op zijn minst een van deze eieren te pakken te krijgen.
Op een andere dag merkt Blacky dat een jager dagelijks mais strooit, om de zwarte eenden te lokken, zodat ze na een tijdje zich niet meer bewust zijn van gevaar en een gemakkelijk doelwit worden. Blacky probeert de eenden te waarschuwen, maar ze luisteren niet naar hem. Ten einde raad vindt Blacky er niets beters op dan Farmer Brown's Boy naar de voederplaats te lokken om hem te tonen wat er gaande is. En Farmer Brown's Boy blijkt een goede vriend van de dieren te zijn, want hij vindt een manier om de jager te slim af te zijn.
Zoals altijd een verhaaltje waarvan kinderen kunnen genieten!

Blacky the Crow Thornton W. Burgess

I have tried to write stories about crows, but I couldn’t pull it off and settled for writing poems about these bad birds. Thornton Burgess did it, and he did it 100 years ago. His story is called Blacky the Crow.

My one complaint is that he picked a rather dull name for his protagonist. But hey, it was 1922. I’ll extend the kind of mercy crows never show.

When a friend, who is a retired park ranger told me about Burgess, she was stunned to find out I’d never heard of him. The conservationist and children’s author published more than 170 books and 15,000 pieces for his daily newspaper column. Daily! I wrote a monthly magazine column and burned out after only eight years.

Since Blacky the Crow was written for a young audience a century ago, it is more of a morality tale than most contemporary children’s fiction. But, like Beatrix Potter, it treats an animal’s characteristics as character. So when I read the first sentence, I felt confident Burgess knew his crows.

"Blacky the Crow is always watching for things not intended for his sharp eyes.”

What a perfect first sentence! We learn that crows have excellent vision and that they are up to no good. Well done, Mr. Burgess, and in only 14 words!

The story hits all the necessaries for crows, beginning with an elaborate plot to steal eggs from Mr. and Mrs. Hooty (Owl) and ending with a theft of a shiny object that does not, in fact, turn out to be an egg.

If you love crows, I encourage you to pick up this treasure, from a long-forgotten literary stash. I leave you with a few quotes to lighten your heart and trouble your dreams:

* “Peter Rabbit says that it is because Blacky’s conscience troubles him so that he doesn’t dare sleep alone, but Happy Jack Squirrel says that Blacky hasn’t any conscience.”

* “He isn’t easily discouraged. Sometimes it is a pity that he isn’t, because he plans so much mischief.”

* “he shouts, ‘Caw, caw, caw, caw!’ in the most provoking way, and Farmer Brown’s boy insists that he has seen Blacky wink when he was doing it.”

* “He didn’t fly straight there. Oh, my, no! Blacky is too clever to do anything like that.”

* “Blacky has no pockets, so he keeps his treasures in a secret hiding-place, a sort of treasure storehouse. He visits this secretly every day, uncovers his treasures, and gloats over them and plays with them, then carefully covers them up again.”