The Bird With The Golden Feather

The Bird with the Golden Feather is about sticking to your convictions no matter what the price. Leaders are like eagles. They do not flock, you find them one at a time. This is what little Bird learns. She chooses to be true to her decisions. It does not always mean you fit in with everyone else.

As a day ends and the horizon transforms into a dark crimson hue, a mother pigeon tells her children a bedtime story that she hopes will not only make them sleepy, but will also prepare them for life. In her mind, stories are the best way to encourage her chicks to metaphorically fly, before they technically spread their wings. As her tale of good versus evil concludes, Mother Sue kisses her birdies goodnight with the hope they will all live a good life. But the general mood within the cage is bleak amid the uncertainty that hangs over them like a dark cloud. As the king they serve heartlessly plots within his hall, not far from the room in which they and their beloved caretaker, Francis, reside, it is not long before he delivers a fiery speech that prompts Francis to wake the pigeons, open their cage, strap an anonymous letter to one of the birds, and release him into the wild. But as the birds continue their important missions of delivering messages, they cannot help but begin questioning their roles in the lives of humans seemingly intent on committing more atrocities. In this fairy tale, a family of feathered messengers attempts to fulfill their important purpose while serving an evil king.

After finding one golden feather, the youngest prince begins a quest that teaches him to follow instructions no matter how ridiculous they seem.

Differences are gorgeously illustrated in a heartwarming picture book about a colorless peacock who learns to love himself in a jungle full of color. Mo has always felt a little different. While all the other peacocks grew bright, bold, beautiful feathers in rich greens and vibrant blues, Mo's feathers grew in a snowy white. And even though Mo's friends try to include him in their playtime, Mo doesn't like to be reminded that he's different from his friends. But when a storm threatens to ruin the group's annual celebration, Mo must learn to stand tall, strut his stuff, and shake his brilliantly glowing tail feathers--in a way only he can--to help his friends and set things right. From debut author Sita Singh, and brought to life by Stephanie Fizer Coleman, comes a story about finding strength in the things that make us different, and beauty in all its forms.

A classic fable encouraging generosity and individuality, from four-time Caldecott Honor-winner Leo Lionni. Tico, a little bird born without wings, is one day granted his dearest wish. But the wings he gets are made of gold and his bird friends turn against him. “You think you are better than we are,” they say. What Tico does with his golden feathers—and the important lesson he learns—is a fable that children will take to their hearts.

As heard on NPR's This American Life “Absorbing . . . Though it's non-fiction, The Feather Thief contains many of the elements of a classic thriller.” —Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air “One of the most peculiar and memorable true-crime books ever.” —Christian Science Monitor A rollicking true-crime adventure and a captivating journey into an underground world of fanatical fly-tiers and plume peddlers, for readers of The Stranger in the Woods, The Lost City of Z, and The Orchid Thief. On a cool June evening in 2009, after performing a concert at London's Royal Academy of Music, twenty-year-old American flautist Edwin Rist boarded a train for a suburban outpost of the British Museum of Natural History. Home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world, the Tring museum was full of rare bird specimens whose gorgeous feathers were worth staggering amounts of money to the men who shared Edwin's obsession: the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying. Once inside the museum, the champion fly-tier grabbed hundreds of bird skins—some collected 150 years earlier by a contemporary of Darwin's, Alfred Russel Wallace, who'd risked everything to gather them—and escaped into the darkness. Two years later, Kirk Wallace Johnson was waist high in a river in northern New Mexico when his fly-fishing guide told him about the heist. He was soon consumed by the strange case of the feather thief. What would possess a person to steal dead birds? Had Edwin paid the price for his crime? What became of the missing skins? In his search for answers, Johnson was catapulted into a years-long, worldwide investigation. The gripping story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man's relentless pursuit of justice, The Feather Thief is also a fascinating exploration of obsession, and man's destructive instinct to harvest the beauty of nature.