REVIEWS "This retelling of an 18th-century tale attributed to Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev explores the cruel and uncontrollable nature of gossip. The book opens with a poem. Appearing before a wise rabbi, a woman who has damaged the reputation of another insincerely vows to make amends: 'I will take back my words...' The rabbi, fearing that she has not learned her lesson, instructs her to gather all the feathers released into the wind from a feather pillow. Forest's retelling is simple and elegant, using some dialogue and spare descriptions. Cutchin's bright watercolor illustrations fill in the Eastern European setting well, using varying and fresh perspectives. Brightly colored feathers play prominently across the pages. The artist's style is rich in detail... This is an entertaining tale, ably retold, with a timeless lesson."

"In a small village, a young woman spreads an unkind rumor. Her victim goes to the village rabbi to get justice for her ruined reputation. The gossipmonger offers to make amends by taking back her words, demonstrating that she does not truly understand the harm she has caused. The rabbi invents a creative way to teach the heedless woman the destructive power of rumors and gossip.

"He tells her: 'Take my feather pillow to the market square. Cut it open and let the feathers fly through the air. When this task is done, bring back the feathers, every one.' Although she thinks the rabbi has gone mad, she follows his strange instructions. Of course, she cannot possibly retrieve all the feathers, and thus learns the intended lesson: 'I suppose,' she sighed as she lowered her head, 'they are like the words I can't take back from the rumor I spread.'

"The author is a storyteller and folk musician with several recordings, and has written four other picture books, including a version of Stone Soup that won a Parent's Choice Award, plus A Big Quiet House, which was selected for the American Bookseller Pick of the List. She attributes the origin of this tale, which she tells in rhymed verse, to Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev, an eighteenth-century Hassidic rabbi from Eastern Europe. Spiritual teachers have long known the power and effectiveness of using parables to teach moral lessons, and this one is especially vivid, although the verses are uneven in rhythm and inconsistent in rhyme.

"What makes this volume remarkable are the illustrations. The illustrator teaches art at an elementary school in Florida and works as a freelance graphic artist. This is her first picture book, and in it she has used a watercolor palette that is vibrant and rich, clearly depicting the expressions of the villagers, the smugness of the young yenta, and the wise eyes of the old rabbi. The feathers that fly out of the pillow and over the village rooftops are beautiful, bright, and surprisingly multi-colored, like the varied feelings that words can evoke.

"Intended for ages five through eight, Feathers will inspire discussions about the emotional power of words, as well as about the bygone culture of the setting. Forest ends the book by stating its lesson: 'Cruel words like feathers fly. Cruel words reach far and wide. They leave the mouth a bitter rind. May all your words, my friends, be kind.'"



Written by Heather Forest and illustrated by Marcia Cutchin, Feathers is an enthusiastically recommended children's picture book retelling a traditional folktale of Eastern Europe. When a gossip monger is brought before a wise rabbi, he must teach her about the harm of spreading false rumors in a way she will remember. So he charges the accused woman to take his feather pillow to the market square, cut it open, scatter the feathers, then retrieve them all. When she attempts the seemingly bizarre task, she learns the truth about the feathers. '''I suppose,' she sighed I as she lowered her head, I 'They are like the words I I can't take back, II from the rumor I spread.' II Cruel words like feathers fly I Cruel words reach far and wide. I They leave the mouth a bitter rind. II May all your words, my friends, be kind." The color illustrations add the perfect touch to this simple yet powerful story about the moral value of minding one's tongue and respecting others' feelings.

"Words, like feathers fly in the wind...," goes the old saying. In "Feathers," a European Jewish folk tale takes on new life with Forest's engaging narrative poem and Cutchin's detailed, colorful illustrations of old-world Europe. When the town gossip is accused of ruining a fellow villager's reputation, the rabbi issues a remedy: cut a pillow open and recollect each feather released by the wind. A wonderful book that will teach kids an important lesson--that words hurt and once said, can never be taken back.

Well-known storyteller and author Heather Forest has added another Jewish folktale to her repertoire. Her previous Jewish book, A Big Quiet House, was a popular retelling of the "crowded house" folk tale, and in this new story, she takes on the tale about the evils of gossip that is originally attributed to Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev. It is a cautionary tale. A rabbi tries to teach a lesson to a gossipy woman by ordering her to take a pillow to the town square, cut it open, and then gather all the feathers together-which she cannot do. Forest retells this story in a very simple rhyming style, with few words to the page.





Background details are unimportant; for instance, we don't know where the story takes place, who the people are, or what the nature of the false rumor is. We just know that a woman started an unidentified rumor and the rabbi has decided to teach her a lesson. This appealing book will work well with very young children because of the simplicity of the text and the large and vibrant illustrations



…children's stories which contain vivid illustrations that help teach important morals... …fun and easy to understand… …a perfect choice for children in this young age group. "Feathers" is a story about a Woman who lives in a small village and is accused of starting rumors that are not true. As a punishment for starting these rumors, the village rabbi tells her that she is to go to the vil1age square and rip open a pillow and collect all of the feathers that come out of the pillow. The feathers in the pillow represent each person that she told a rumor to and explains how difficult it is to stop those rumors from spreading. The book's moral is that rumors can hurt people's feelings and reputation and it is best to not participate in such behavior. The book gets this point across well and is tilled with vivid colors and drawings. It is also very easy to read while teaching a moral lesson. …wonderful illustrations and educational value exists…