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THE GREEDY CROW by Jason  Harris

THE GREEDY CROW

From the Beau Crow series

by Jason Harris & illustrated by Jason Harris & developed by YARG

Pub Date: Aug. 2nd, 2012
Publisher: Jason Harris

A satisfying tale about greed and gluttony.

“One morning time, young Beau Crow felt terrible rumbles from his tummy below… / It was only an hour since breakfast at most, when Beau had gobbled grubs on toast.” So Crow flies off to find a field of worms and starts gorging himself. Hare and Mouse tell Crow to stop being so greedy and selfish, and Badger warns him that he will get so fat he won’t be able to fly, but he keeps on eating. Sure enough, when Fox saunters by, Crow can’t get off the ground to escape the predator. A chase ensues, and he finally gets enough exercise to slim down and lift off. The fable ends with an admonition: “After his journey Beau had reduced in size, and promised to be more healthy and wise.” The rhymes and rhythm work quite well in this silly story (though they are not written as verse but in short paragraphs), whether readers choose the British narration, the “record me reading” option or just read it aloud. Double-clicking brings up a rather glitch-y navigation menu. The illustrations are almost too sketchy and simple, though they are in keeping with the sparse but humorous animations, like the rubber-band effect when Crow is pulling up a worm from its hole, or the round-and-round screen chase with Fox.

This good-natured fable sends home an important message.

(iPad storybook app. 2-6)