Feathers, by Phil Cummings & Phil Lesnie

The boy spied a falling feather
spinning
and drifting.
He climbed to the top of a craggy mountain and caught it.
It was soft and smooth on his grimy chief.

When the sun rises on a crisp,cloudy day a sandpiper knows it is time to leave, so it takes flight, heading for warmer climes. First though, on its long journey, it flies over scenes of destruction and hardship – an earthquake, a war zone and a flood. In each place,a feather falls to earth, offering hope to a child below. Finally, as the bird reaches safety near Mia’s house, it drops one last feather. When Mia catches it, she feels lucky. The reader, who has seen the hardships faced by the other children, is particularly aware of how lucky Mia is.

Feathers is a beautiful picture book, on the surface tracing the story of a bird’s migration but, at the same time, exploring the differing fortunes of children across the globe. The theme of hope, symbolised by the bird’s feathers, is demonstrated with exquisite simplicity in both the text and in the outstanding watercolour,pencil and gouache illustrations.

Just beautiful.

Feathers , by PhilCummings andPhilLesnie
Scholastic, 2017
ISBN 9781760157357

The Red Feather by Ben Kitchin ill Owen Swan

One day, Claude, Shelby, William and Maya went to the seaside together.

Claude found a red feather.

It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

One day, Claude, Shelby, William and Maya went to the seaside together.

Claude found a red feather.

It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

Four young children go to the beach. One finds a fine red feather which becomes his most treasured possession. He plays with it, completely entranced until he is very hungry. Then his friend Shelby offers him food in exchange for his feather. Reluctantly, he relinquishes his treasure. Shelby is then mesmerised by feather play. And so it goes, until all four children have played with the feather. But despite its marvellousness, in the end, the feather is a poor substitute for companionship. So the children play together with the feather. Illustrations are pencil and watercolour and mostly sit in white space, combining full page and vignette images. End papers show feathers red-on-white at the front, white-on-red at the back.

The Red Feather is a story about sharing. Each of the children covets the feather and at first it’s all they need. But before long, it’s not enough. Other needs overwhelm, and although each misses the wonderful feather, they trade it for something else (food, shelter). The feather seems to have altered their ability to play collaboratively, and each becomes mired in loneliness and wanting. But they resolve their dilemma and find a way to share the feather. Then they can get back to enjoying their time on the beach, playing together. The endpapers show the feather faded – perhaps not quite as valuable as when first discovered. Recommended for pre- and early-schoolers.

The Red Feather, Ben Kitchin & Owen Swan
New Frontier Publishing 2015 ISBN: 9780957988439

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com