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 highly respected picture-book creators whose award-winning children’s books are loved by children all over the world. Margaret has published over seventy picture books for young children and she has been the recipient of the Nan Chauncy Award and the Lady Cutler Award for her contributions to Australian children’s literature. Her books are published around the world and have won numerous awards.

Photo courtesy of Allen & Unwin

Freya Blackwood

Freya Blackwood was born in Edinburgh and grew up in Orange in NSW, Australia where she now lives with her daughter Ivy. After graduating from UTS in Visual Communications, Freya worked in the film industry as a production assistant, runner and effects technician. She began illustrating picture books in 2002 and has since been shortlisted for, and won many prestigious awards, including the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2010. Award-winning titles include Two Summers with John Heffernan (2004 CBCA Chrichton Award winner) and Amy & Louis with Libby Gleeson (2007 CBCA Picture Book of the Year for Younger Readers) with Scholastic Press; Little Hare titles Maudie and Bear with the late Jan Ormerod (2011 CBCA Early Childhood Book of the Year); Look, A Book! with Libby Gleeson (2012 CBCA Picture Book of the Year); Go To Sleep Jessie with Libby Gleeson (2015 CBCA Early Childhood Book of the Year) and My Two Blankets with Irena Kobald (2015 CBCA Picture Book of the Year); and from Allen & Unwin The Cleo Stories: The Necklace and The Present with Libby Gleeson (CBCA Winner Book of the Year: Younger Readers). Freya works and creates in her backyard studio. Visit her website here.

Photo courtesy of Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing

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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