Feathers for Peacock

by Jacqueline Jules, Helen Cann (Illustrator)

Overview

Long ago, when the world was brand new, all birds were naked. It wasn’t fair. Foxes had fur. Turtles had shells. Birds deserved warm coats, too.

Disgruntled, they approach the first full spring moon for advice. Birds of all shapes and sizes attend the meeting. Everyone except Peacock. He arrives on the scene late, to find his friends covered with warm, colorful feathers. “Look at Peacock! He’s still naked!” All the birds stare at poor Peacock trembling in the cold night air. What will Peacock and his friends do? Find out in this beautiful and charming pourquoi story about kindness.

Award-winning author Jacqueline Jules blends folktale motifs from around the world to offer an original explanation for why the peacock has such beautiful feathers. An appendix provides more information about peacocks. Helen Cann’s stunning illustrations give young readers fun opportunities to identify the colors and plant life of spring. Feathers for Peacock is a gently humorous tale of generosity and friendship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937786533
Publisher:	Wisdom Tales
Publication date:	04/07/2016
Pages:	28
Sales rank:	448,514
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jacqueline Jules is the author of over two dozen books for children, including the award-winning Zapato Power series and Never Say a Mean Word Again: A Tale from Medieval Spain. A former school librarian and teacher, Jacqueline enjoys visiting schools to share her passion for reading and writing. She is a word person, who loves rearranging words on the page, the same way people have fun fitting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together. She lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Helen Cann’s illustrations have graced the pages of almost thirty books.She has won several international awards,including theNautilus Award and Junior Library Guild Award for Little LeapForward and New York’s Bank Street College award for Brigid’sCloak.Her books have been exhibited around the world.She loves to travel and has seen the Northern Lights, slept in an igloo, eaten reindeer with Sami herders, and journeyed 1,300 miles in a sailing boat across the North Atlantic searching for whales. Having painted in studios of all shapes and sizes, she now stirs up inspiration above the sugary smells of a milkshake shop in seaside Brighton, UK.

Editorial Reviews

Both award-winners, Jules and Cann make a perfect team to create this original pourquoi tale about how peacocks got their feathers. In the story, all birds were originally naked, but, advised by a benevolent moon, they show up at dawn and rub against flowers of their choice. Instantly, each one has warm, protective feathers of beautiful colors—they celebrate with a party. Poor peacock, however, has overslept and finds himself still naked; it is too late to follow the moon’s advice. Will the birds let him go on being so vulnerable? No, his newly outfitted friends each offer him one of their feathers, which he sticks on in a jumble of hues. His new coat is not pretty! It is the moon to the rescue again, weaving a swirl of magic blue light around the peacock’s body until it displays a pattern of blues, greens, and golds. He loves to show off his fan-like tail, the result of his friends’ generosity. Viewers will be able to identify some of the birds—owl, swan, flamingo, cardinal—in Cann’s gorgeous illustrations done with pencil, watercolor, and collage. The huge white moon hovers above, its nose a pyramid, its mouth stretched wide in a grin. Readers can spot the collage in blossoms, leaves, and trees, while birds and flowers form intricate patterns against deep blue backgrounds. Arresting, too, is a spread of naked white birds tunneled underground in dark chocolate earth, a snowy winter scene above. Jules adds an interesting endnote about peacocks (the one most familiar comes from India); young readers learn that she was inspired by a Puerto Rican folktale about an owl. After reading this lovely book, kids may enjoy writing pourquoi tales of their own. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft; Ages 4 to 9.

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

07/01/2016
PreS-Gr 2—This lavishly illustrated work tells how all the birds helped Peacock get his beautiful tail. Under a snowy landscape naked birds huddle in burrows, trying to keep warm without feathers. They decide to ask the wise full moon what they should do in the spring, when they can venture back outside. The creamy moon is shocked at the sight of the naked birds under the midnight blue night sky and advises them to rub against the flowers first thing the next morning. Delighting in the riot of springtime colors, all the birds, except the still-sleeping peacock, pick up the colors of the cherry blossoms, tulips, and green grass. The early birds get the colors but agree to share their new feathers when the still-naked peacock stumbles into their celebration. That night the moon sees Peacock's hodgepodge of borrowed feathers and surrounds him in moonbeams to create a fantastic tail. VERDICT This delightful pourquoi tale will be a great addition to storytimes, and the detailed illustrations invite individual lingering and repeat visits.—Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA

School Library Journal

2016-02-17
A wintry tale of how the peacock got his colorful feathers and of the power of kindness. In the early days of the world, birds did not have feathers to shield their bodies from the cold. Seeing other animals that have shells or fur, Hawk and Eagle seek advice from the wise moon. The moon promises that if the birds rub up against the flowers and plants at dawn, when the moon and the sun are in the sky at the same time, they will be clothed—but Peacock, sleeping in his cave, misses this moment. Seeing his naked body, all the birds each chip in one of their feathers, and with the help of the wise moon as well, Peacock gets his distinctive look. Cann's vivid paintings bring to life the colorful plumage and seasonal stages of the story, jewel colors enlivening both flowers and feathers. In an afterword, Jules provides further information on peafowl and explains that she was primarily inspired by "El Plumaje del Múcaro," a Puerto Rican folk tale in which a múcaro (owl) acquires party plumage with the help of the guaraguao (hawk). Puerto Rican readers and those otherwise familiar with the original may well be taken aback by the erasure of its cultural distinctiveness in service of Jules' artistic license. It's a charming tale of generosity that, one hopes, will drive readers to also seek its traditional inspiration. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews