An overarching narration typeset in a stick-straight sans serif font drops a sentence or two on each page to frame the story, while the dialogue of the birds propels the conflict along. In fact, the text is just as strong as the art. Adding to these are the snippets of dialogue which litter each spread, short sentences that are sure to be fun to read aloud in different voices. The mannerisms of the birds go a long way toward developing the personalities of each, belying the fact that this is a picture book Crow's flights are majestic, wingtips curled, while Cardinal's wings perk out at odd angles. In contrast, the birds are outlined and coloured in thick blocked lines, supporting the remarkable range of body language used to tell the story and the fascinating amount of expressions Portis is able to achieve simply by the shaping of the birds' eyes (à la Jon Klassen's This Is Not My Hat). In particular, the broad expanse of the sky backgrounds benefit, given this book's longer-than-usual trim size Portis shows the passing of time in beautiful ombe gradients and lit-up/shadowed sides on hedges that move, signifying the transition from day to night and back. But keep reading, and soon the genius of the illustrations reveals itself. The intriguing mix of pencil, charcoal, ink and digital colour is unusual and provides an almost collage-like effect that seems cartoon-ish at first. To be honest, the illustration style did not attract my attention at first when opening the book.
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