Wildwood Chronicles

So Colin Meloy wrote a children's book called Wildwood. A supposedly whimsical children's book with just the right amount of darkness. Illustrated by his wife, Carson Ellis. (You know I love her work!) Potential b-day present for Es????

A mini-excerpt to whet your appetite:

"Chapter 1: A Murder of Crows.

How five crows managed to lift a twenty-pound baby boy into the air was beyond Prue, but that was certainly the least
of her worries. In fact, if she were to list her worries right then and there as she sat spellbound on the park bench and watched
her little brother, Mac, carried aloft in the talons of these five black crows, puzzling out just how this feat was being done would likely come in dead last. First on the list: Her baby brother, her responsi- bility, was being abducted by birds. A close second: What did they plan on doing with him?"

They also have a playlist to accompany the book and it includes a song by Fairport Convention, which I thought was just some weird group, like Schooner Fare, that only our parents liked because they saw them perform in the high school auditorium or whatever, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they are actually hipster cool. Though seriously, I loved Jewel in the Crown and might go see if it is on itunes right now....