A Raven Named Grip

Starred review from September 1, 2021

Gr 1-4-While many children will not be acquainted with either Charles Dickens or Edgar Allan Poe, this little-known story will interest and amuse them. The antics of a series of pet ravens, each of whom was named Grip, provided Dickens with valuable writing material, even though these pet birds created plenty of household turmoil and aggravated Dickens's own children. In his book Barnaby Rudge, Dickens invented a literary version of his own raven. This precipitated his relationship with Poe, a yet-undiscovered American writer who was inspired to create his own spooky poem that became an instant hit. Even kids knew about this celebrity author. Croaking like the bird in the poem, they would chase Poe down the street just to have him spin around and declare the most famous word from the poem-"Nevermore!" Fotheringham's digital illustrations beautifully evoke the dress and scenery of the Victorian era. Employing the craft of a skilled storyteller, Singer makes a few historical facts come alive in the form of a delightful tale. Satisfying back matter includes her personal experience with ravens as well as additional raven facts. VERDICT A slice of literary history that will appeal to a young audience as well as teachers, librarians, and caregivers. Perfect as a read-aloud, this is a fine addition for any collection.-Gloria Koster, formerly at West Sch., New Canaan, CT

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2021
An expanded version of one of the several solutions to the Mad Hatter's riddle about how a raven is like a writing desk: Poe and Dickens wrote on both. It's a neat literary anecdote, though, as more than one raven was involved, Singer has to fudge it a bit. It seems that Charles Dickens kept a succession of pesky ravens as pets, all named Grip. The first he turned into a character in Barnaby Rudge and then had stuffed and mounted when it died. The second was incorporated into a painting of the author's children that he took with him on an American tour--where Poe saw it in Philadelphia and, being a struggling writer who, as the narrative puts it, "needed a hit," penned a certain renowned poem. The rest is history. Adding the occasional inscribed Nevermore to tempt listeners to chime in, Fotheringham outfits the two gently caricatured White men and several racially diverse gaggles of laughing children in period clothing and sends multiple ravens, all bearing the same cocky smile, fluttering through the illustrations. Along with added-value closing notes on the ravens of the Tower of London (many named Gripp) and the corvid clan in general, this genial account closes the circle by following Grip I down the years to its current, permanent home...in Philadelphia. It seems only right. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Just a footnote--but worth treasuring for its very unlikeliness. (bibliography, web sites) (Informational picture book. 8-10)

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November 1, 2021
This breezy animal biography opens in the British household of the writer Charles Dickens, whose raven Grip teases his children, chasing them around the house. Singer deftly contextualizes Dickens’s literary fame and his typically Victorian taste in pets. Dickens casts Grip as a character in a novel, and while in the U.S. on a lecture tour, an aspiring interviewer named Edgar Allan Poe is so taken with the fictional raven—and a painted image of Grip—that he eventually writes a poem of his own about a raven. Stylized digital spreads by Fotheringham read like a series of animation cells, with a nod to period costumes and details. The most memorable images represent the raven as an enormous bird with the small figures of Dickens and Poe on its back, a symbol of its function as muse and inspiration. Back matter supplies more information about these intelligent animals, as well as a selected bibliography. Ages 6–8.