On Westerly the raven’s otherwise ink-black tail, one bright white feather stands out. Westerly stands out, too. She isn’t like her brother and sister—she’s different. Everyone knows it, including the roost’s storykeeper, who proclaims that Westerly alone is destined to save her fellow ravens from a terrible fate. Questioning her destiny, isolated from her family, and full of doubt, Westerly takes to the sky, vowing never to return. But when a once-in-a-lifetime volcanic eruption finds her, she has no choice but to flee in the direction of home.
A Raven of the Rainforest is a stand-alone companion to Rosanne Parry’s bestselling Voice of the Wilderness novels, A Wolf Called Wander, A Whale of the Wild, A Horse Named Sky, and A Wolf Called Fire. Set in the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, A Raven of the Rainforest tells a gripping animal survival story about family, courage, faith, leadership, and hope. Illustrated in black-and-white throughout and impeccably researched, A Raven of the Rainforest is an excellent read-aloud for parents and teachers.
The Greenwillow team has created a teacher’s guide to all the Voice of the Wilderness books including RAVEN. Here is a link.
School Library Journal Has a Starred Review of A Raven on the Rainforest!
★Parry, Rosanne. A Raven of the Rainforest. illus. by Howard Gray. 256p. (Voice of the Wilderness). Greenwillow. Sept. 2026. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780 063424319. Gr 3-6–Westerly the raven was told on her fledging day that she was special, and a foretelling spoke of how she would save others in the future. Her family and the other ravens are delighted by this news, but Westerly doesn’t feel special or brave. She just loves her forest, her family, her river, and the wind that carries her majestically through the sky. Her life is happy and full as she learns more about the world and follows her curious nature to explore. But when disaster strikes and Westerly fails to warn her family in time, she flees, leaving her beloved home behind. Will she ever live up to her foretelling or find a place to call home? Parry’s latest “Voice of the Wilderness” installment is yet another deeply educational tale of an ecosystem told through the eyes of the animals who depend on it. Themes of family, respect, responsible use of resources, friendship, loss, and hope are thoughtfully explored. While the humans who are destroying Raven’s habitat are portrayed as ruthless, the Indigenous peoples and others who live in harmony with it are celebrated. Stunning grayscale illustrations by Gray complement most pages. A full 30 pages of back matter explain everything from facts about ravens and rainforests to the true historical events portrayed in the novel, to ideas for how readers can continue the fight to protect natural resources. VERDICT Nature fiction at its finest, this title should be wherever young readers can find it. Highly recommended for purchase.–Emily Beasley
A RAVEN OF THE RAINFOREST, a review from KIRKUS
Author: Rosanne Parry
Illustrator: Howard Gray
Publisher:Greenwillow Books
An imaginative retelling of real events from 1910 through the eyes of a raven.
When a young, timid raven called Westerly is named the future storykeeper of her roost, she’s not at all certain she’s up to the task. She’s particularly burdened by elder storykeeper Sirocco’s foretelling: Westerly must watch for “the storm-riven day” when she must rescue her fellow ravens and warn the other creatures living along the Elwha River in Washington state’s Olympic Rainforest. But when a human-made explosion sparks a disastrous fire, Westerly flees, racked by guilt that she didn’t properly warn the others of the impending danger she sensed. She embarks on an odyssey into the deep north, where she discovers curiosities as varied as moose and a city and grapples with the environmental ruin wrought by humans. After narrowly escaping a volcanic eruption, Westerly grows increasingly torn between her longing for home and her fear of rejection by her roost and must make a momentous decision. Powerful prose and evocative imagery capture the hushed majesty of the natural world, which is enhanced by Gray’s quietly gorgeous black-and-white illustrations. Parry conjures a rich inner life for Westerly, and is skilled at incorporating fact-based material in imaginative, engaging ways. The pacing drags somewhat during Westerly’s exile; however, the appeal of learning the prophecy’s meaning will keep readers’ attention until the end.
A soul-stirring epic for young nature lovers and budding environmentalists. (nature facts, map, author’s note, resources) (Fiction. 8-12)