The Wandering Feather

A charming story of finding one’s perfect place, The Wandering Feather by Lisa Frenette and August Swinson takes readers to the skies.

A hawk feather falls from the back of a red tailed hawk and floats through the air. It needs to find its perfect place to be but it’s not that easy. A nest, a hat and a sandcastle are not the right places but when a little girl finds the feather, she knows exactly where that feather belongs, at the end of a dreamcatcher she makes all by herself, just the way her grandmother taught her.

The Wandering Feather is Lisa Frenette’s debut picture book and is a wonderful story about finding one’s place in the world and sharing some traditional knowledge with readers. The story made me think of the classic, Are You My Mother? By P.D Eastman. Just like the bird in that story, the red tailed hawk feather in our story goes floating around looking for something special. In this case, it's the perfect place to be where it can feel the cool breeze and be appreciated for its beauty. I love how Lisa Frenette anthropomorphizes the feather, giving it thoughts and feelings so readers can understand why the feather keeps traveling around.

I appreciate how readers get to learn about dreamcatchers through this story. Dreamcatchers can be found in many places and it’s important that readers understand the symbolism behind them and the reason why they are made. Lisa Frenette shares information about dreamcatchers with readers in the author’s note at the end of the story and reminds us, if you wish to buy a dreamcatcher, be sure you are purchasing from Indigenous creators and learn the story behind their designs.

August Swinson’s illustrations are big and graphic reminiscent of linocut art. Given that he is a muralist, the illustrations have a big quality to them that gives readers a little taste of mural art in hand held form. I love the boldness of the pictures, making this a wonderful story to share with a large group.