Year Published: 2020
Year Read: 2021
Publisher: NorthSouth Books
I would like to thank NorthSouth Books and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
So, after years of not being able to read any children’s books that dealt with animals (which are some of my all-time favorite children’s books), I finally came upon a children’s book that dealt with animals called “The Speckled Feather” by Johanna Ries. I must say that I really enjoyed this cute little story about friendship!
The story starts off with three birds named Ade, Emem and Nuru who all live on the back of an elephant in the savanna. One day however, a beautiful speckled feather is blown into their midst and when one of the birds picks up the feather and sticks it to themselves, the other birds quickly got jealous and they wanted the speckled feather for themselves, despite the fact that this is ruining their friendship with each other.
Will the birds stop fighting over the feather
to save their friendship?
Find out in this story!
Wow! This book was both fantastic and cute to read through! Johanna Ries has done an excellent job at both writing and illustrating this book! I just loved the way that Johanna Ries wrote this book as the narrative was simple yet impactful as the story shows the importance of friendship and how friends can argue with each other if something came between them. I was actually sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering if the birds will regain their friendship again, despite the appearance of the speckled feather. Johanna Ries also did a fantastic job at illustrating this book as the animals in this book look so realistic, especially the elephant that the three birds live on. I also loved the abstract look of the savanna as it has a simplistic look, but still conveys the appearance of the savanna pretty well.
Parents might be a bit concerned about one scene where the main characters are being chased by a predator. While this scene was pretty short, some smaller children might be a bit scared by the main characters being in any danger. Parents might want to read this scene first before reading it to their children.
Overall, “The Speckled Feather” is a fantastic children’s book about the importance of friendship and how your friendship is much more important than any materialistic thing. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to one intense scene in this book.
