Crickwing by Janell Cannon, Paperback

From the Publisher

"Text and illustrations are beautifully matched as readers follow Crickwing's positive transformation."--The Boston Globe

"Cannon's illustrations skillfully blur the line between fact and fancy, and add a feather to her well-decorated cap."--Publishers Weekly

"Crickwing is not only a hero, but an elegant, graceful beauty as well."--Kirkus Reviews

Publishers Weekly

A cockroach with a crooked wing begins picking on creatures smaller than himself and is sentenced to be served up to the army ants-but a few rebels have a change of heart and set him free. PW called this "an amusing tale lightly rooted in natural history. The illustrations skillfully blur the line between fact and fancy." Ages 6-9. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Tired of being bullied, an artistic cockroach with a crooked wing and a penchant for culinary sculpture ("I just like to play with my food") begins picking on creatures even smaller than himself--leafcutter ants--and is taken prisoner by the colony. Crickwing is sentenced to be served up as a peace offering to the army ants, but a few brave rebels have a change of heart and set him free. The grateful (and penitent) cockroach repays their kindness and saves the colony by scaring off the army ants with his best sculpture ever--a giant green anteater made of leaves. The tale ends with Crickwing joining the leafcutters as their chef; the celebration that follows includes flower confetti and dancing (the "six-step," naturally). Cannon (Verdi) works her picture book magic once again, producing an amusing tale lightly rooted in natural history (notes on cockroaches and ants follow the story). Reeling in her audience with saucy characters and an engaging plotline, she hooks them with her vibrant visuals. Whether depicting Crickwing creating an edible mouse from a root, leaves and berries, an ocelot peering at him as he hides under a stone or a herd of leafcutter ants falling into one his traps, Cannon's illustrations skillfully blur the line between fact and fancy, and add another feather to her well-decorated cap. Ages 6-9. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Children's Literature

Crickwing is a cockroach who has a crooked wing, and the other cockroaches won't let him forget it. He isolates himself as much as he can, risking capture by fierce predators who grab his food before he can eat it. Most cockroaches eat as soon as they find their food. But Crookwing (terrible, hurtful nickname!) is an artist, and creates lovely sculptures before he eats his food. He won't give up his art, but he's getting hungrier and hungrier. Between his physical pain and his emotional turmoil, he can't think straight, and becomes a terrible bully. He finds that leafcutter ants are just right—they're smaller than he is, and they never let go of their leaves, so they never stop working, even when he trips them. Even when he hangs their leaf fragments from a twig. Even when he digs a hole and traps dozens of them. They're a perfect target for an angry cockroach. But the leafcutter queen can get angry, too. It's time for the leafcutters' annual payment to the army ants. What better payment, she decides, than a fresh cockroach? She orders her workers to "Seize him!" When they force him through their tunnel, and his wing pops back into place, his relief from the pain is balanced by his terror at being trussed up as an offering to the army ants. No longer in pain, he does some quick thinking and comes up with a perfect solution. This lovely, thoughtful story of acceptance matches Cannon's other stories of the temporarily misplaced: Stellaluna and Verdi. Her drawings are fanciful, but just real enough. Together, words and pictures show how tiny creatures must look when they're angry or unhappy. Recommended. 2000, Harcourt, Ages 6 to 9, $16.00. Reviewer: Judy Silverman

School Library Journal

Gr 1-4-In her latest picture-book creation, Cannon introduces Crickwing, a cockroach with a wounded wing. This basically sweet-natured creature becomes a bit of a bully when he discovers how easy it is to play tricks on a colony of worker ants. When faced with outside danger, however, he uses his creative talents to help his industrious friends. The most striking aspect of the book is the acrylic and Prismacolor-pencil artwork. As with Stellaluna (1993) and Verdi (1999, both Harcourt), Cannon's drawings are exacting-a true marriage of fact and fiction. The cockroaches and ants are precise enough for an entomology textbook, while the lush colors and beautifully realized facial expressions are so reader friendly that even very young children will be enchanted. Unfortunately, the text falls short in comparison. The story is too wordy and somewhat stilted, making it difficult to use as a read-aloud. For older students, the scientific explanations of various species of cockroaches throughout the world may be helpful, but will diminish the storybook quality of the book.-Barbara Buckley, Rockville Centre Public Library, NY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Continuing in the lapidary visual style that made hits of Stellaluna (1993) and Verdi (1997), Cannon illustrates this tale of a hard-luck jungle cockroach with exquisitely detailed and realistic ground-level views that seem to glow from within. Crickwing, so dubbed after a near-fatal encounter with a toad, likes to play with his food, constructing faces or whole animals, and becoming so absorbed that all too often some predator arrives before he can chow down. Finally he begins taking out his annoyance by bullying a column of smaller leaf-cutter ants—whereupon the leaf-cutter queen orders him seized and left as a sacrifice to the army ants. Saved from certain destruction by two kind-hearted leaf-cutter workers, Crickwing repays them by designing a giant anteater made from vegetation. Its appearance causes the army ants to flee in panic. Though Cannon's art is far different in technique from James Marshall's, there is a certain similarity in the way both can pack worlds of expression into eyes that are little more than dots. The insects here may be more or less accurately drawn, but they all have distinct personalities too, and their faces (as well as the occasional drawing of bugs strutting or madly fleeing) will have children laughing in all the right places. Moreover, his wing healed by the end, Crickwing is not only a hero, but an elegant, graceful beauty as well. Readers may not lose their aversion to cockroaches, even with the author's informative, appreciative closing notes, but they'll enjoy the adventure. (Picture book. 7-9)

Crickwing

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