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siriface's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death
fernandie's review against another edition
3.0
Note: I accessed digital review copies of this book through Edelweiss and NetGalley.
racham1123's review against another edition
2.0
It wasn't what I was expecting. But instead of one star I'm giving it two because I think this ones all on me and not the book itself.
bosswench's review
reflective
4.5
This book is a work of art, beautiful to look at and rhythmic, beautiful to read. I also respect the inclusion of the hawk and the way the death of the skylark is described, "Feather heard the sound of a scream in the air and saw a drop of bright red blood like a glittering bead drip down from the sky." I respect an author who respects the emotional intelligence of children and tells them real stories of the world--here is a beautiful, artful combination of all the wonder in the world (and in ourselves), all the arrogance and self-involvement, all the brutality, all the humble comfort.
valgus's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this more, but I think there was something lost in the translation. :( It was too wordy. The book itself was beautiful though!
rmtbray's review against another edition
4.0
A beautifully illustrated children's book that follows a feather on its journey to find which bird it came from. The themes of curiosity, sadness and belonging are all delicately handled, making it a really lovely story for both adults and children. Having previously heard about Cao's thought provoking and beautiful children's books I was really happy to be able to finally read one!
Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for the chance to read and honestly review this book.
Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for the chance to read and honestly review this book.
balancinghistorybooks's review
3.0
Cao Wenxuan's Feather is the only children's book which I have chosen to include upon my Reading the World list. It has been translated from its original Chinese by Chloe Garcia-Roberts, and has been written by China's answer to Hans Christian Andersen. Feather felt like something a little different, both to read and to write about.
Feather opens with Wenxuan's inspiration for writing the tale: 'One day a great wind blew through Beijing. As I was walking into the gale I suddenly noticed a single white feather on the ground go fluttering and floating up into the sky... The feather was riding the wind with grace and ease yet at the same time precariously and helplessly.' He wonders about the fate of the feather, and in his book, has made it visit a whole host of different birds to find out where it comes from. Whilst this circular structure has been designed for children, Wenxuan writes: 'Underlying this simply story... are actually the core questions of human thought: where do I come from? Where do I want to go? Who do I belong to?' Essentially, he has decided to emulate the human desire of finding a sense of belonging.
Roger Mello's illustrations were my favourite part of Feather; they are both beautiful and quirky, and really augment the story. The writing itself is rather simplistic, as one might expect, but some very nice ideas have been woven into it. The use of the feather's own perspective is rather sweet and imaginative: 'How she longed for the sky! How she longed to soar!' Feather is sure to delight children with a love of art and nature. It is difficult, however, to know which age group makes up the target audience; the text is not advanced enough for a lot of children, but includes too many words to make it accessible to younger readers.
Feather opens with Wenxuan's inspiration for writing the tale: 'One day a great wind blew through Beijing. As I was walking into the gale I suddenly noticed a single white feather on the ground go fluttering and floating up into the sky... The feather was riding the wind with grace and ease yet at the same time precariously and helplessly.' He wonders about the fate of the feather, and in his book, has made it visit a whole host of different birds to find out where it comes from. Whilst this circular structure has been designed for children, Wenxuan writes: 'Underlying this simply story... are actually the core questions of human thought: where do I come from? Where do I want to go? Who do I belong to?' Essentially, he has decided to emulate the human desire of finding a sense of belonging.
Roger Mello's illustrations were my favourite part of Feather; they are both beautiful and quirky, and really augment the story. The writing itself is rather simplistic, as one might expect, but some very nice ideas have been woven into it. The use of the feather's own perspective is rather sweet and imaginative: 'How she longed for the sky! How she longed to soar!' Feather is sure to delight children with a love of art and nature. It is difficult, however, to know which age group makes up the target audience; the text is not advanced enough for a lot of children, but includes too many words to make it accessible to younger readers.
librarianryan's review
2.0
A feather is trying to find it’s owner. It dreams of flying and being reunited with its bird soon. But first it must figure out what type of bird it belongs to. Overall the story is not bad but it can get a little repetitive. The artwork is at times beautiful, and at times annoying. There are pages where the print is hard to read because it’s black on a dark background. Since this is a wordy story, seeing the words is very important.