This is a lovely store of a raven who simply did not fit in with the older, more experienced members of the flock. No matter how hard he tried, he simply missed the meaning of what was expected of him. He was puny and thus would never be accepted.

The narrator is a member of the nasty group who heckled him. He had told the puny little guy that he would never fly and then was severely picked on by the others. No doubt about it, they were mean to him. Their bullying hurt him deeply.

When he grew larger he thought he would belong and thus asked if he could fly with them. They nastily said "no, not until you fly to the moon!!!" They bragged they previously accomplished this feat daily when they were his age. Jabbing at the little raven, making him believe he never, ever would be as good as them.

He felt that if he could fly higher and higher that maybe he would be accepted. One night as he looked at the large silver moon, he spread his wings and aiming to fly as high as he could, he did almost reach the beautiful orb. His wings were glittering silvery and as bright as the moon itself.

Then, suddenly, his wings lost power, most likely because his silvery wings were far too heavy. The next morning, he was found lifeless in a hedge close to a tree. Perhaps he came more close to the moon than any other bird. He now gained respect from the flock who were sorry and sure they would miss him.

As his mother sobbed, all were afraid. His little eyes opened. And, he told the flock that he didn't make it, and he was told that they never made it either and merely told him that to get rid of him. And, now, he asked the flock if they could play. Then, they all noticed that he had a silver feather shining on his wing. "I didn't make it," he cried. And the bird who felt the worst about all the nasty bullying admitted that they never made it either, they were just bragging he admitted. "Can you forgive me?" asked the black raven with a heart.

And, instead of replying the little moon raven flew in the air and told the flock to come and play. Now, They all followed as he flew higher.

This is a lovely story of the things we all do to try to fit in. In the little Raven's case, he almost paid a very high price for his attempt at reaching the silvery moon. But, he had a badge of courage to award for his efforts.

This book touched me deeply. I'll keep this one on my shelf.

4.5 Stars. ( )

I like ravens, so I had to grab this from the display. The idea is interesting, but the bullies' apology does not seem sincere, and I don't like the foil moon and feathers - it seems like a gimmick, and a cheat, as if the illustrator couldn't show us silver with the same technique as the rest of the pictures. The text font is ridiculous, too, imo. ( )

Marcus Pfister of the Rainbow Fish series writes a compelling story about bullying and forgiveness. The flock torments and picks on the littlest Raven born to flock and no matter how hard he tries the flock will not let him play. One of the older birds tell s him he can play if he can fly to the moon. The little Raven tries but falls to the earth lifeless and disappointed he didn't make it. The older Raven realizes how they treated him and ask for forgiveness and the big hearted Little Moon Raven simply says lets play. Excellent book to teach younger children the affects of bullying and how it hurts others. ( )

"Pequeño Cuervo, solamente hay una condición si quieres jugar con nosotros: ¡Vuela hasta la luna!", se burlaron los cuervos mayores.

El pequeño cuervo tenía miedo, pero levantó el vuelo hacia la infinitamente lejana luna. Aquello no podía terminar bien. ¿Qué habrá sido del pequeño, valiente cuervo?

"El pequeño cuervo y la luna es un muy buen álbum cuyo contenido, de dolor y petición de perdón por haberse portado mal con otro por envidia, y cuyo tipo de narrador, el de alguien que recuerda con arrepentimiento un suceso del pasado, son poco usuales. Además su composición gráfica es sobresaliente"