Independent Reading Level: Grade 4

The books starts out with a fear that the peacocks have with the swans so they gather weapons. The swans hear of this and begin to gather weapons as well in blind fear. The birds go to war until there are no birds left. But at the end, a swan egg hatches and a peacock egg hatches. They realize how similar they are and become friends.

In the book "Feathers and Fools", the peacocks are constantly trying to be better than the seams, even though they cannot fly and cannot swim. The peacocks and swans decided to create weapons and start a "war". The central message of this story is that if you add fumes to the fire, it will only make it bigger, so you should always take the higher route. Also, when the peacock mistook the reed for nesting for an arrow and shot down the swan. The message of this part of the story is that not everything is what it seems to be, because the reed was mistaken for an arrow and the peacock shot down the bird and it started a war and none were alive. At the end of the story, a baby swan and a baby peacock were born and became friends no matter what they are called, they are alike. ( )

Genre:fantasy
Age appropriateness:Preschool - 3,4 - 7 years
Review:Feathers and Fools speaks so positively about the innocence of trust and the terrible destruction of fear. There is bad blood between peacocks and swans but eventually they became friends and live peacefully together. The storyline is simple and yet very powerful and moving.It is a powerful allegory for war.
It is a fantasy book because it the setting is believable and the plot is logically consistent even though the main characters in the story are animals. The theme is also clear: We should remove prejudice and misunderstanding have understanding to each other. ( )

I would use this story during a folk literature unit in fourth or fifth grade. The tension between the peacocks and swans is heavily described, and I wouldn't want to disturb children from reading the story, so I find it best for older grades. I would use it as a read aloud so we could discuss the story as we go. The moral of the story is accepting differences. After reading the story, I would have students answer what the central message was, and give supporting details from the text. I would also have students compare and contrast the peacocks and swans. After reading the story, I would have students practice their sequencing skills. Students would place the story into beginning, middle, and end. ( )