Crow's Tales

Authors of the Award-Winning novel THE BIG DREAM presentTHE BIRD CAPPER in the fun book series everyone's been waiting for!THE CROW'S TALES.Are you ready for a thrilling adventure that will leave you on the edge of your seat? Look no further. In THE BIRD CAPER (book 1), ten year old Brandon is faced with the ultimate challenge when his parents decide to sell his home. This change means moving the family away from his beloved neighborhood and friends. Desperate not to move, Brandon turns to his pet crow, Ralph, for comfort and advice. But when Ralph becomes the suspect in a string of mysterious bird incidents, Brandon must race against time to clear his name and save his friendship with his best friend, Josh. As tensions rise and new challenges emerge, Brandon must uncover the truth behind the crimes and chaos before it's too late. Will he be able to outsmart the dreaded B.B. Boy bullies? And who knew that ladybugs could play such a pivotal role in the grand scheme of things? With action at every corner, this middle-grade mystery adventure is a must-read for boys and girls. A perfect book for 8 – 12 year olds. Fans of books like "The Mysterious Benedict Society" will devour this captivating tale. Don't wait any longer, grab your copy of THE BIRD CAPER today!Bonus! Teacher Reading Resources Included.Don't forget to read THE BIG DREAM! Book 2 of THE CROW'S TALES, a 3-book series. Entertaining stories with wholesome values!The Back Story by Authors Pannell & SigfussonIt's a funny thing. THE BIRD CAPER isn't the book it started out to be. We were still working on our first novel, THE BIG DREAM, and decided we wanted three books suitable for three different grade levels. We thought our readers would have fun growing up as the characters in the book grew older. When we first thought we had completed THE BIRD CAPER, it was only ten thousand words and written for third grade.As we continued working on the book, we realized how much we enjoyed writing for middle grades, scrapped our original writing plan, and focused on turning THE BIRD CAPER into a novel. We're happy about that decision. We expanded nearly every chapter in the book and added several chapters to the front. The final book is approximately thirty-five thousand words. It more than tripled in length from its original size.We enjoy being co-authors of our books. We've developed a writing process that works well for us. Story ideas are something that sort of pops into our heads. Thorir developed the concept and started writing THE BIG DREAM years before we published it. The idea for THE BIRD CAPER was something Victoria came up with out of the blue and immediately grabbed her cell phone and began writing chapter one.Fun fact! The main character, Brandon, changed age three times while we wrote the story! Pretty crazy, right? When we started, Brandon was eight years old. Soon after we changed our plans for the story, we made him nine. Then, when we were nearly finished, we suddenly decided Brandon needed to be ten. That special double-digit age we all look forward to… it just felt right!Here's the scoop. There are three books in The Crow's Tales series. THE BIRD CAPER, THE BIG DREAM, and THE CROW'S RING. Each book is a stand-alone story (one story does not depend on another). However, there is something special about reading them in the order listed above because the characters are different ages in each book. So, THE BIRD CAPER is book one followed by THE BIG DREAM.We hope our readers enjoy the adventures of Brandon and Ralph!

GOLD MEDAL Winning Authors PresentAnother Rollicking AdventureWhat begins as a fun summer turns wild and crazy when thirteen-year-old Brandon Woodberry and his best friends meet a salty old sea captain with ties to an unsolved 1930s jewelry heist. Determined to both crack the case and save the captain's tugboat before it's hauled off for scrap metal, Brandon & Co. follow their noses and a series of enticing clues.But the heat is on after Brandon's pet crow, Ralph, turns up with a valuable missing ring, and the line between hero and villain gets murky. Can Brandon and his friends - both feathered and non - solve the cold case, clear their names, and rescue the tugboat before time and luck run out?Join Brandon for another adventurous summertime romp as he searches for the truth and discovers a curious bond to the sea.Don't forget to read THE BIRD CAPER and THE BIG DREAM in The Crow's Tales series. Laugh-out-loud mystery adventures to entertain young readers and adults, too!THE BACKSTORYThe Crow's Ring was always going to be a mystery adventure, like the rest of the series. The Captain's tugboat, the Maryanne, is key to the story. It's based on Thorir's childhood in Iceland, where he'd go to the harbor and watch the ships his father sailed on. He especially loved the look and character of the tugboats.Another interesting point is that in book two (The Big Dream), Brandon's pet crow, Ralph, finds a ring. The ring reappears and plays an important role in this story. Look at the ring on the book cover-it's a copy of the one Victoria's dad gave her many years ago when she was a young girl. The ring is meaningful to her since she didn't have her dad in her life growing up.Near the end of the story, Brandon and Josh are served a beautiful Corn Flake Cake. This is a delicious cake with pineapple, whipped cream, and cornflakes. Thorir's Icelandic mother used to make this, and we both miss this tasty dessert. His sister, Ragnhildur, knows how to make the cake, but unfortunately, she lives far from us. We're hoping to try to bake it someday!Is The Crow's Ring the last book in The Crow's Tales series, or is there more to come? We originally intended to write only one book, the 1st edition of The Big Dream, for our grandchildren, as a gift for them for the holidays. Little did we know we would fall in love with writing for middle-grade readers and with the fun, heartwarming characters we had created. It didn't take long to figure out there was more to young Brandon's story and his adventurous relationship with his pet crow, Ralph.Instead of a series of loosely connected stories, we decided to focus on the characters' journey through middle school. This allowed us to show how our protagonist, Brandon, and his friends matured in their interests and relationships. In book one, The Bird Caper, Brandon is 10 years old. In book two, The Big Dream, he's 12. And in book three, The Crow's Ring, he's 13, turning 14. As the stories' characters - Brandon, Josh, Penny, Skip, and Sophie - age, their challenges become increasingly complicated and exciting. This approach to the series has opened the door to endless adventures and insights.So, if you're wondering, "Will there be a book four, five, or even more?" The answer is up to the readers!