Fur and Feathers

by Janet Halfmann, Laurie Allen Klein

Overview

When Sophia dreams that howling winds whisk the fur and feathers right off her animal friends, she shares some of her clothes with them. But her clothing doesn't work well for the animals. Seeing their disappointment, she offers to sew each one the "right" coat. Animals line up to explain what they need and why. Polar Bear needs white fur to stay warm and hide in the snow. Fish needs scales, but with slime. Snake needs scales too, but dry ones. And how will Sophia make a prickly coat for Porcupine? The award-winning team of Halfmann and Klein (Little Skink's Tail) reunite to bring animal coverings (and classification) to life in an imaginative way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607181002
Publisher:	Arbordale Publishing
Publication date:	04/17/2013
Series:	Fur and Feathers , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	AD640L (what's this?)
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jeanne Walker Harvey (Astro the Steller Sea Lion, Fall 2010) has been a long timemember of SCBWI with publications in Writer's Digest, Cricket Magazine, Nation’s Business, SCBWI's ACORN, Creativity Connection, Parent's Expecting and Teachers of Vision, including articles pertaining to nature and marine animals. Currently, she teaches Language Arts and a Writing Workshop at her local public middle school. She has a degree in English literature and psychology from Stanford University. She lives in Marin County, California, with her husband and two teenage sons and a black lab who sits at her feet when she writes.

Editorial Reviews

"Fur and Feathers is a creative picture book with a hands-on educational approach to the scientific classification of animals. - Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 1—Sophia dreams that a howling wind comes in and whisks away all the fur and feathers on the animals in the book she was reading. She tries to help them by sharing her clothes, but none of them suit the animals' needs. Then she decides to make new coats for them: scales for Snake, gray feathers for Duck, pins and needles for Porcupine, etc. The major problem with this book is that it hammers children over the head with its message of various animal coverings, and youngsters who are learning about the topic may be bored by this simplistic story. The book is wordy and tedious, and the illustrations and text do not flow together. The art is pleasant enough and does a good job of capturing the animals realistically, but there is nothing truly outstanding here. This volume doesn't seem to know if it's fiction or nonfiction, and it does not succeed as either one. Additional facts appear at the end, including information on scientific classification of animals.—Lora Van Marel, Orland Park Public Library, IL

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