Bartholomew Quill: A Crow’s Quest to Know Who’s Who

In Bartholomew Quill by Thor Hansen, the world is young. Bartholomew does not know what kind of creature he is. He narrows his search by asking a serious of questions to various animals, discovering what he is not; before finding out who he is. The book succeeds very well with this theme of discovering who you are by looking in a mirror. It is not demeaning, in any way of anyone, others are just different. The book will appeal to children moving from the toddler stage to slightly older; from hard page books to ones with more content, who can identify pictures, and listen as someone reads the poetry of the story. The book is a hardback with soft pages. It is written in brief, easily read verse with a good rhyming scheme. The illustrations by Dana Arnim are exceeding well done and contain different animals that are easy for younger people to recognize and are not threatening. The color palate is of slightly muted earth tones rather than stark shades.

Overall the book is a calm look at finding oneself. That it is in rhyme is an enjoyable plus. The two-year-old in my house very much enjoyed it. I did also and recommend it highly.