The Feather

by Dot Cleeve

Paula and her dad spend a day together. When Paula finds a feather, her search to find its owner brings the whole world, from the frozen northern landscapes to the warmest tropical paradise, into her day by the river.

Genres: Birds

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[Jenna Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book. A bit random she bumped into a peacock though!

[Mahera · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Feathers by Dot Cleeve and Kim Harley is about a young girl named Paula who finds a feather near her home. She is curious who this feather belongs to, therefore she goes round asking many different types of birds whether the feather she found is theirs. She first encounters a swan, she asks the swan if the feather belongs to the swan, the swan says ‘No’, and tells the young girl how swans have ‘snowy white feathers’, and the swan gives the little girl one of her feathers. The young girl encounters many different birds (moorhen, kingfisher, wagtail, pheasant, peacock and then finally a seagull) asking them the same question. Each bird gives the young girl a description of their feather, till she finally comes across a seagull, who tells her that the feather is hers and tells her ‘my feathers are grey like the mist and dawn of time’. By the end of the book, the little girl has gathered 7 different feathers, which differ in size and colour.
I think this book is aimed at year three children. I think this book was particularly interesting because of what the book was about (birds), through an interesting story the children learn about the different types of birds we have around the world, they can also understand that these birds are different in many ways, they are different in size, they have different colour feathers and have different habitats. This book can be utilised for curriculum support, for example: science, they can identify the different birds, what are similar/different about them, where they live, why they live in such climates etc. It can also be used for geography, looking at the different countries/area the birds come from in the world, a further subject it can be utilised in is art, where by a follow up activity would be the children to design a feather of their own, consider shape, size, colour etc, and also ICT, where the children can go on the internet and research more about these birds, or even research what other birds there are in the world.
Another engaging aspect about the book were the intricate pictures, which brought the book to life, this would definitely be a book which will grab the children’s attention due to its use of bright colours and scenery.