The Keeper and the Crows

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian in North Wales,
Pennsylvania.

A visit to Aunt Dora’s country cottage turns into an adventure of
mythic proportions for young Misha. A talking sturgeon transforms Misha
into a fish and implores him to find and return the key to Pandora’s
box that the evil crows have hidden. Misha reluctantly agrees. With the
help of Aunt Dora, who is the “Keeper” of the box, he manages to
outwit the crows and return the key to its rightful place.

The basic premise of this story is that a little hope is let out of
Pandora’s box each day, but if it is let out the wrong way, hope will
be lost forever. Apparently the crows want to take control of the box
for evil purposes, but their motivations are not clear. The depiction of
the crows as “evil” creatures is contrary to current thinking that
all creatures are important in nature and to the web of life.

The plot and setting are paramount in the story and there is little
attention given to character development. The narrative stumbles at
times as the author uses a formal style with advanced vocabulary and
complex sentence structure (e.g., “Shaggy but mystically white, the
albino crow called Old One flew slowly forward and perched arthritically
on the ledge”). The book is suggested for Grades 3 to 6, but younger
readers may have trouble with the vocabulary and older ones may not be
as interested in the story. Not recommended.