The Feather

Teacher Resource

Publisher's synopsis

‘Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul’
– Emily Dickinson

This is a story about hope, kindness and redemption set in a grey dystopian world. When a great feather drifts from the leaden sky, two children recognise its extraordinariness and take it to the village for its protection. The villagers, however, want to encase it, upon which the feather loses its radiance. The children take it home and care for it through the night. In the morning it is again radiant, and when they set it free it leaves behind the first signs of blue sky and colour. The ambiguous ending invites multiple interpretations about the effects of selflessness and kindness.

Awards

Shortlisted for the 2019 CBCA Picture Book of the Year and the 2019 Prime Minister’s Literary Award

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Margaret Wild

Margaret Wild is one of Australia’s most-loved picture book authors.

She has written over twenty books, many of which have appeared in foreign editions. All have been highly acclaimed. Jenny Angel (which was inspired by her brother’s death at the age of seven), illustrated by Anne Spudvilas, Fox, illustrated by Ron Brooks and The Very Best of Friends, illustrated by Julie Vivas are all winners of the CBC Picture Book of the Year Award. Her most recent picture book with Penguin is The Treasure Box.

Margaret was born in Eshowe, a small town in South Africa. She now lives in Sydney.

Photo courtesy of Penguin Random House Australia

Freya Blackwood

Freya Blackwood is a multi-award-winning illustrator and writer. Her picture books are beloved for her warm and perceptive drawings. Since publishing her first picture book in 2003, Freya has worked with writers such as Libby Gleeson, Margaret Wild, Jan Ormerod, Nick Bland and Danny Parker.

In 2010, Freya won the UK’s most prestigious prize for illustrators, the Kate Greenaway Medal, for her book Harry and Hopper. And in 2015 she did what no other creator has ever done, taking out three CBCA Book of the Year awards in a single year. The Unwilling Twin was shortlisted for Picture Book of the Year in the 2021 CBCA Awards.

Freya lives in Orange, New South Wales, with her daughter, Ivy.

Photo courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers Australia

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Further Details

Author Margaret Wild

Illustrator Freya Blackwood

Publisher Hardie Grant Publishing

Date of Publication 2018

ISBN 9781760124212

Category Children's Books