How the Birds Changed Their Feathers

by Joanna Troughton

A retelling of a South American Indian tale of how birds, all of which used to be white, came to have different colors.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1986

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those folktales that make me think there was more implied or understood by the original audience than captured by the person writing it down. We have a boy who is mean to birds. He picks up some colorful stones and is turned into a giant, menacing snake with a colorful skin. A chief promises that whomever can kill the monster can keep its skin as a reward (which seems only fair? I would like more reward than that, please). The birds, which in this era before history have no colors, defeat the serpent thrugh cooperation, and later gain the colors of its scales...