Feather
-
- $10.99
-
- $10.99
Publisher Description
A philosophical picture book from one of China's most celebrated children's authors and 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award-winner Cao Wenxuan.
A feather is blown across the sky, meeting various birds along the way, and asking each one, "Do I belong to you?".
Cao Wenxuan tells the story of a single feather who is swept away on a journey of discovery and belonging. Encountering a variety of birds, from a kingfisher to a magpie, Feather is hopeful of meeting the bird she belongs to. Again and again, she is dismissed or ignored. Only when she sees that there is also beauty in being close to the earth does fate offer a reunion... Feather is sure to charm young children with a plot at once compelling, meditative, and quietly moving. Roger Mello’s stunningly beautiful, dynamic illustrations will delight readers of all ages.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Am I yours?" a feather asks each bird she meets. She's searching for the one who dropped her: "If I belonged to a bird, I could fly even higher!" Mello like Cao, a recent winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award traces the balletic curves of bird forms: a heron's neck ("You aren't mine," the heron says), the outstretched wings of geese (they ignore Feather), the tail of a peacock ("Perhaps you haven't looked carefully enough"). A skylark grants Feather's wish and carries her aloft, then meets a dreadful fate in the talons of a hawk: "Feather heard the sound of a scream in the air." Feather's heritage, she discovers, is less grand than she imagined but it's her own. Mello's artwork offers countless delights: the plumage of the birds, contrasting backdrops that make the colors blaze, and liberal use of empty space. Cao's story has the timeless quality of a traditional folk tale (and the brutality of one, with its offstage murder), and it speaks to the way that desires have consequences that can't be calculated. It's not comfort Feather's search offers, but truth and beauty. Ages 3 7.
