This book is part of Pushkin Children's Books’ Save the Story Series. Author (and poet) Ali Smith offers a poignant retelling of Sophocles’Antigone. The events unfold before the eyes of a watching crow who is hovering over the battlefield looking for a meal. If that sounds dark, it is, but her cynical yet practical commentary keeps the traumatic events of the story at a safe distance and adds some much-appreciated humor. The crow mocks the absurdities of Creon’s arbitrary decrees from her bird’s eye view, which emphasizes the original play’s message of justice that transcends tyrannical laws. The tragic end is recounted as an epilogue to the crow’s new chicks, so that it becomes a part of nature’s cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Artist Laura Paoletti’s stark illustrations are the perfect counterpoint to the narrative. Thanks to her work and Smith’s way with words, every aspect of this book has a harsh beauty that makes even the ugliest parts of the story easy to read. – Krishni Burns

* For further information on the Our Mythical Childhood Survey, please refer to the website of the project “Our Mythical Childhood” [link: http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/], led by Prof. Katarzyna Marciniak at the Faculty of “Artes Liberales,” University of Warsaw, Poland, with the participation of Bar Ilan University, University of New England, University of Roehampton, University of Yaoundé 1, and other affiliated scholars, within the funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement No 681202).