Cover Image: Lali's Feather

Lali's Feather

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Member Reviews

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful book. The pictures are so bright and colorful. The story flows so well. Great message. I recommend!

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Beautifully illustrated story of Lali, who finds a feather. Who’s feather is it? It is too pokey to be rooster’s or peacock’s. What can a simple feather do? Find out with Lali! I also enjoyed the Indian lilt (na, jai ho, etc. in the text)!
#LalisFeather #NetGalley

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My Thoughts
Lali finds a feather, and goes around asking the birds if it is theirs so she could return it to the bird that lost it. When each of them says it is not and gives a reason why, she decides to keep feather and play with it. All her bird friends are amazed at what feather can do, and come to love feather. But when Lali loses it, everyone gets together to help her look for it and make her feel better.

The book subtly and sweetly relays messages of friendship and of finding happiness in the simple things. Both the charming text interspersed with Hindi words and the simply beautiful illustrations with delightful details work together to take the story forward, as well as give the book a distinct yet subtle flavor of India.

And then, a surprising twist at the end 🙂

In Summary
A delightful book with a relatable and adorable main character, a sweet message and bright, colorful, beautiful illustrations.

<a href="https://www.ladyinreadwrites.com/">Check my blog - LadyInReadWrites - for more reviews</a>

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC of the book; these are my honest opinions after reading this lovely book.

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I can't say as I've ever considered the make believe potential of a single feather. Zia gives it the full exploration though. First Lali finds the feather. Each bird that she encounters tells her why her feather is inferior and she counters their arguments. This is what we would expect. The difference comes when Lali's feather disappears and all of those birds try to comfort her, offering her one of their own feathers. Another author would have had Lali accept the proffered feathers, leaving her with a collection. Instead, they help her retrieve her feather, there being no acceptable replacement for our favorite thing.

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Lali's is like a breath of fresh air as she dances and flows through this book with her newly found feather. As she tries to find the original owner of the feather she travels through her village questioning who she encounters. The repetition in the conversations splashed with scientific facts about birds makes this a perfect for a science read aloud for little ones. Children ages 4 to 8 will be on the lookout for their own special feather.

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Young Lali appears to be a creative, free-range spirit who loves nature and talking with the birds. One day she finds a loose feather in a field and attempts to discover the owner. But it’s not rooster’s or crow’s or peacock’s or hen’s or duck’s or blue jay’s feather. All their feathers serve very unique purposes just for them. Still, Lali finds incredible value in her feather. For example, it can write in the sand. It can sweep a deck. It can fan a fire. Or it can tickle unsuspecting family members. After a day of experimental play, a gust of wind sadly carries Lali’s feather away and her bird friends must help her find it. However, just wait until you see what she finds next.

The ending showcases the fact that we can find value in just about anything if we are open-minded and look more closely at our seemingly worthless possessions. Lalai’s Feather is an excellent, light-hearted picture book that can be employed to open a deeper discussion about first impressions and even gratitude. The colorful artwork in this book was rendered digitally. My thanks to Netgalley and Peachtree Publishing Company for providing me with an e-ARC so that I could give my honest review. This title will be published on April 1st!

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This perfectly captures the joy children can find in the simplest of things. It's so pure and playful, with a beautiful set of illustrations!

Lali finds a little feather in the field. Is it lost? Lali sets out to find feather a home, but one bird after another rejects it. The feather is too small for Rooster, too slow for Crow, and too plain for Peacock. Once Lali decides to keep the little feather and discovers all the things she can do with it, the other birds begin to recognize its value.

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When Lali finds a feather in the field she sets out to find the owner. She takes it to various birds, but each one points out that it doesn’t belong to them and why. It’s too small for Rooster, not right for Crow and too plain for Peacock.

So Lali decides to keep it. She then stretches her imagination in order to discover the things she can do with the feather. At first, several birds laugh at the thought that the feather can be used for anything.

But as Lali begins to demonstrate the many uses for her little feather, the birds stop laughing and watch in awe.

But the demonstrations come to a quick close when a gust of wind takes the feather and it sails away. However, the birds who have now become friends fly off to look for the feather.

But soon, something fun happens to brighten this imaginative little girl’s day.

My Thoughts
While this isn’t a book that is apt to bring chuckles and smiles, it is one that will cause a conversation and deeper thinking.

This is a good story for bringing about discussions regarding first impressions (the feather belongs to a bird) and then thinking beyond that (how can you use a feather).

What Concerned Me
Probably the biggest downside for me is the text. It just didn’t flow.

What I Liked
This is a sweet story about friendship, imagination, discovering the joy and beauty of the things we experience.

My thanks to NetGalley and Peachtree Publishing for allowing me to review this title. All opinions are my own.

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Sometimes the smallest and simplest of things have value and bring happiness. This is the case for Lali’s Feather. Colorful illustrations match the text making this a fun read over again and again book.

Thanks netgalley for the ARC.

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Lali has found a feather, a feather she has much fun with but then Lali loses the feather. She hunts all over asking everyone if it is there feather. No one thinks that simple feather is anything like their feathers that do wonderful things. Lalis feather is special though it is special to Lali. Lalis friends feel bad for Lali when she loses her feather and realize it’s value. Through Lali’s feather we learn about friendship, individual value and beautiful birds with their particular attributes. “Feather flitted, feather fluttered, feather floated away.”

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Lali finds a feather in a field, then sets out to find who the feather belongs to. She asks various birds along the way if it belongs to them. She also shows what other things a feather can do.
A book with lovely illustrations, and a diverse lead character. The language is repetitive enough that my child caught on and could say some of the phrases with me. It ends with what could be an invitation to imagine your own story in the same style.
I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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This was a cute picture book about Lali, who finds a mysterious feather. Who does the feather belong to? Readers are introduced to a wide variety of birds during Lali's playful discoveries.

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Beautiful illustrations depict different birds that Lali interacts with. Great writing for read aloud picture books. We follow Lali as she talks with different birds that aren't always seen in picture books. Lali shows us all the wonderful things a plain feather can do.

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"This endearing story of identification and values shows the rewards in looking closely and thinking imaginatively.
Lali finds a little feather in the field. Is it lost? Lali sets out to find a feather a home, but one bird after another rejects it. The feather is too small for Rooster, too slow for Crow, and too plain for Peacock. Once Lali decides to keep the little feather and discovers all the things she can do with it, the other birds begin to recognize its value.
Farahan Zia's charming tale employs an inventive circular structure that reveals the importance of looking beyond first impressions. Illustrator Stephanie Fizer Coleman brings this delightful story of imagination and inspiration to life."

Let me start off by saying that the artwork for this particular book is beyond amazing. So much so, that I am looking forward to being able to add this to my personal library in 2020 when it is released.

While I enjoyed the story overall, I do believe that there were issues in regards to the flow of the story. With that said, the writing was just perfect for my young children, as it was not too "wordy" and they were easily engaged throughout the entire story. One of the biggest things that I loved was how excited they were to see what was going to happen next.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the chance to review this title. All opinions are my own.

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"Lali found a feather in the field.
Whose feather? Lali did not know.
Oo ma! Was little feather lost? Lali
set out to find feather a home."

Her mission leads her to rooster, crow, and peacock. They all assure her that the feather she has found does not belong to them.

"Cheeky birds!" cried Lali. "If you don't want
feather, I shall keep it."
And that is what she did!
"Feather and I will do one hundred things!"
Lali said.

Lali decides to use her imagination and show everyone how gifted her feather is. She writes with it, sweeps with it, fans a fire, and tickled Bapu's toes too. Oh my, her feather is so much fun and the other birds are mesmerized by all the wonderful things that it can perform. And then a big old wind bursts with a whoosh and guess what happens to her feather? Gone!

Lali is very sad and all her bird friends surround her and give her solace and comfort. Will Lali ever get her treasured feather back? Can her friends find a way to retrieve it and bring Lali happiness once again?

The illustrations are colourful and enrich the narrative greatly. Hindi interjections are woven throughout the story which is a lovely touch giving the book an Indian flavour for kids to enjoy. This is a story of friendship, identification, and thinking imaginatively. I highly recommend this book.

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I received a free digital arc from netgally in return for my 100% honest opinion.


Lali’s Feather by Farhana Zia has to be the cutest picture book. Lali finds a feather and she goes around asking her bird friends if it belongs to them, sadly they don’t claim feather so she keeps feather all to herself and does amazing things with feather. Lali cleans the floor with feather, she writes on the sand with feather, Lali even uses feather to fan a fire and make it even bigger.

A gust of wind comes and blows feather away from Lali and her friends, Lali was sad and crying so her friends offer her there feathers, hoping it will cheer her up. Finally her friends were able to bring back feather to Lali so they can all play with feather, but the next day she found something even better.

The illustrations are beautiful and simple, my 2 year old loved it and will constantly bring me my tablet for me to read it to her. The writing was simple yet effective to captivate a young child and letting children know to look past what they see and deeper into what they are and could be, exploring imaginations.

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Lali's imagination is gone wild trying to find the bird that the feather belonged to. She's very focused with doing so. This book was very cute.

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Lali is a young girl that finds a feather. She attempts to find the owner of the feather, but none of the birds claim it. All of the birds claim why their feathers are superior to the one Lali found, however Lali finds uses for her feather. Unable to find the owner of the feather, Lali decides to keep it and impresses the birds with all of its uses. When the wind blows Lali's feather away, several of the birds offer her their feathers as replacement. When Lali refuses, a few of her bird friends help her find the feather.

Overall, this book tells a cute story that young children may enjoy. I gave it a three star rating because I felt like the story didn't flow well at points. I appreciate the way that the story depicts a child using their imagination to find unique uses for an ordinary object. Beautiful full-page illustrations depict the area where Lani's adventure occurs.

I received a free copy of this title from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley #LalisFeather

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This book was delightfully illustrated and sweet. The language used was fun and I enjoyed that it mixed in some Hindi sayings. The illustrations were really gorgeous and helped keep my daughter engaged in the story. We both really loved the illustration of the peacock. The story, one of the importance of something simple that others might not understand, was simple and easy to follow.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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The story involves a girl who finds a rather short, unremarkable feather. When none of the birds she knows won’t claim the feather as their own, then she decides to basically show them what they are missing. She writes with it in the sand, she uses it to sweep the path, she fans a flame and other fun things. However, when the wind takes the feather away all the birds work together with Lali to get that feather back.

Overall, it was a nice story about discovering the joy and beauty in something that others may not see, but also working together to help a friend out by getting something back that is important to them.

I really enjoyed the color choices for the illustrations. There was something very calming and beautiful about them. To be honest, my favorite illustrations were the peacock, but also the mangoes that grew on the trees. My only issue with any of the illustrations was the blue jay. Although the blue jay was beautifully drawn and very colorful; it was not a blue jay. It’s a minor issue and one that preschoolers will most likely not notice.

Rating: 4 stars

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