Parents' Guide to

The Crow-Girl: The Children of Crow Cove

By Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Orphaned girl seeks new family on Danish coast.

Book Bodil Bredsdorff Family Life 2005
The Crow-Girl: The Children of Crow Cove Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 1 parent review

Witchhazel100
Witchhazel100 Parent
August 25, 2016
age 12+

thought provoking

I was really surprised my tween daughter was riveted to this book. It is so painfully sad especially in the beginning. Written during some unspecific time when people had to be very resourceful as there was no public "safety net". She meets unscrupulous people along the way as long as good people. It seems very real.
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

A child grows up with only her grandmother in an isolated cottage in a cove on the pre-industrial Danish coast. Knowing she is dying, her grandmother teaches the girl both wisdom and survival skills. When the grandmother dies, the girl buries her, then sets out along the coast, led by a pair of crows, to find a place to belong.

Along the way she is taken in by a greedy woman, who calls her Crow Girl, and from whom she eventually escapes. She meets a man gone mad with grief for his dead wife who gives her his toddler boy to care for, a mother and daughter escaping from an abusive husband, and a lonely shepherd. Together all of these damaged souls return with her to her cove to begin new lives.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

This lovely, bleakly poignant translation from Danish was a Batchelder Honor book for 2004. It's an atmospheric piece, timeless, quiet, and somewhat melancholy, but warmhearted and hopeful. Though the heroine has a very rough time, but the story is told with the matter-of-factness of a fairy tale and so avoids being a tearjerker. Like a fairy tale too it has just the slightest hint of magic and mystery.

It won't be to every child's taste: With its lack of action it will seem slow to some. But those who are intrigued by the details of life in a place and time far removed from our own will find much to enjoy. And those empathetic young souls, whose hearts will go out to Crow Girl and yearn for her to find her place, will love the deeply satisfying ending.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about family. Why does the girl leave her home after her grandmother dies? What is the girl surprised to learn once she leaves her sheltered home? How does she go about building a new family?

Book Details

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