CCPPG - A FEATHER

A Feather Text by Cao Wenxuan

Illustrated by Roger Mello

A Feather Text by Cao Wenxuan Illustrated by Roger Mello

I was on a walk against the wind on a breezy day in Beijing when I met this feather which inspired my book later on. It was an ordinary white feather lying

Abird in the sky, a bird on the ground, say the lyrics of the song by Brazilian maestro Tom Jobim. There are feathers that

on the ground. It was picked up by the wind. It floated up in the air. It flew higher and higher. While watching the feather twirling and traveling, I happened

cover, feathers designed to fly, feathers that warm the body of always busy birds with tenderness. There are feathers’ fibers

to experience such a complex feeling that feather probably could have in my imagination---how boldly he embraces his ability to fly and freedom of going;

through which not even the smallest drop of water can trespass. Don’t mistake a feather for another, they are not the same. When

however, how badly he struggles in the uncertainty of destinations and needs to live in his moment of being. The feather finally blew far away yet left me a

Leonardo da Vinci was a baby, he felt the feathers of a hawk flying over his mouth, and this dreamlike vision made his

question to wonder ---where it comes from and where it is going. My idea was to let the feather ask this question on its own in my book.

imagination always fly. When my friends Mingzhou Zhang and Ahmad Redzashowed me the story A Feather written by Cao

To me, the best children’s picture book always lands me on the deepest truth of philosophy. The hallmark of superb children’s literatures lies in the ability to compress multiple layers of meanings into single narrative.

Wenxuan, I realized that I was supposed to illustrate the philosophy in between the words. So I fell in love with Cao Wenxuan’s story. A bird from China, a bird from Brazil. In a dream Tom Jobim sad to me: don’t forget to draw a spoonbill. In the Book of

To young readers, this book is a delight read. Various birds are orderly arranged to present in their meeting with the feather, who asked the same question every time he met each of them. Children readers enjoy the recurring scenarios and repeating conversations. Towards the end of the adventure, the answer to

the Dead in Ancient Egypt, the personality was measured comparing the weight of the heart to the weight of a feather. For it must be as strong as it’s light. Just like a very good poem, just like a very good story.

feather’s question was revealed in an unexpected story plot twist. Such a comedic ending gives the readers gasp of surprise but soon brings young kids to laugh.

It is intended as a tale for children but rich in insights to become a philosophic exploration to the world of grown-ups. In the story, the feather asked over and over again the same question, which serves as one fundamental issue that we human beings all have and which is a question worth asking ---where I come from? Where I go? Where I belong?

It is a journey of a feather flying with the wind. It is a journey of one’s chasing for answers. It is a journey of discovering one’s self while accomplishing one’s sense of belonging.

Cao Wenxuan

Roger Mello

Whoosh. Whoosh. Twirl. Twirl. A feather blew here and there.

But when the air was still, the feather stood unmoving, stuck in a row of bushes or a pile of fallen leaves and alone day after day.

One day, a boy and a girl walked by the feather. They picked it up to take a closer look. Then they put it back where they found it.

Before long, the feather heard the girl ask the boy a question — “That feather, what bird does it come from?”

“I don’t know,” replied the boy. “But since it’s a bird’s feather, it could really fly!”

“Exactly!” the feather said to itself, “What bird do I come from?”

From then on, the feather couldn’t stop asking itself what kind of bird it belonged to. How much it wanted to soar in the sky!

Soon enough the feather was picked up by a gust of wind and sent up into the air. It felt just so right.

It heard the boy say, “Looks it’s flying just as though it were a bird.”

I wish I could fly, thought the feather as it was swept away.

The feather landed in a tree on the shore of a lake. There stood a kingfisher with his head leaning on one shoulder, watching the waterfront and not making a sound.

“Am I yours?” asked the feather gently and shyly.

Not paying any attention to the feather, the kingfisher swooped into the water and then swam back up with a little silver fish that struggled to jump out of his beak.

Soon the kingfisher, who returned to the branch on the tree with his head leaning slightly toward one shoulder, went back to watching the waterfront, not making any sound.

“Am I yours?” asked the feather over and over.

But all the kingfisher did was to fill his tummy with fish without even looking at the feather.

And all the feather could do was wait, wait, and wait some more.

Finally when it was all done fishing the kingfisher turned its head, looked down at the feather and said, “No, you are not mine.”

Whoosh. The feather was picked up by another gust of wind and sent back into the air.

A cuckoo bird passed by.

“Am I yours?” asked the feather.

But all the cuckoo bird did was tweet and whistle to people and not even look at the feather.

The wind continued to blow. The feather continued to float in the air.

When the cuckoo bird finally flew back, the feather started to ask again, “Am I yours?”

The cuckoo bird turned his head, took a look, and then chirped, “Not mine! Not mine!”

The feather landed on the shore of a pond, where a heron was bobbing its head in the shallow water, looking for food.

“Am I yours?” asked the feather.

“Am I yours?” asked the feather again.

The heron glanced down at the feather and said, “No. Not mine.”

Another gust of wind tossed the feather into the air again. Way up high in the sky it came upon a flock of geese that was flying by.

“Am I yours?” the feather asked the leader.

But the goose just continued to lead its flock, flap, flap, flap, flap and didn’t even turn to look.

Spinning through the air that was stirred up by all those flapping geese the feather called out again and again, “Am I yours? Am I yours? ”

The last goose in the flock answered, “Little Feather, you don’t belong to us.”

“I hear you.” whispered the feather. By the time he finally found his balance again after a long spin, the geese were gone.

The feather landed on a lawn where a blue peacock was spreading open its tail.

A crowd soon gathered to watch — it was indeed beautiful!

The peacock didn’t seem ready to fold up his feathers until he finally had to end the show.

The crowd soon melted away.

“Am I yours?” asked the feather.

“Pardon me? How dare you ask me ‘Am I yours?’” said the peacock, “My feathers are the most beautiful in the world. Didn’t you see? ”

The feather then hid itself in the grass and no longer said a word.

Much later, he asked a magpie, “Am I yours?”

He asked a swan, “Am I yours?”

He asked a duck, “Am I yours?”

He asked a lyrebird, “Am I yours?”

He heard all their answers, and all of them were “No.”

Then one day the feather happened to meet a friendlylooking skylark. ” I am sorry but you are not mine, little feather” said the skylark, “But I can take you up high enough in the sky to make one of your dreams come true. According to the world record, I’m the bird who flies the highest.”

While saying so, the skylark raced for clouds. And the little feather flew along with the skylark, held in the bird’s beak.

Together, they flew through many puffy fluffy clouds, finally reaching higher than them all.

As soon as the skylark released the feather from its beak, the feather started floating.

The feather landed on a mountain where it found itself in front of an eagle on a rock.

For some reason, the feather believed it belonged to this eagle and it started to shiver as soon as it thought this way.

Maybe it was the excitement that filled its mind. Or maybe it was just the chilly wind.

“Am I yours?” quietly asked the feather.

“Huh?” responded the eagle, whose head barely moved.

“AM I YOURS?” asked the feather loudly.

Without a word, the eagle bent over and slowly begun to open his huge wings-----A flying wild lark was heading their way.

“I know this skylark,” said the feather to the eagle.

Before the feather finished his sentence, the eagle took off, leaving the rock far behind. As speedy as an arrow, the eagle was already targeting the lark.

The feather then heard a scream. It even saw a sparkling drop of blood drip down from the sky.

“Wind, where are you? Please, please help me get out of here!” the feather called from deepest part of its heart.

As wished, the wind came. The feather couldn’t wait to leave. It twirled in the air. It whooshed over a valley, and then headed down to a plain.

Drizzle. Drizzle. It started to rain. Raindrops kept sliding down the feather just like tears.

“I never want to see that eagle again!”

Roger, esta página está no folder, mas seria melhor que fosse o tamanho comum, o folder tem que ser múltiplo de páginas pares.

Aqui está com impar.

The feather landed in a field. For days and days, it just lay on the grass. For days and days, it let its mind go blank.

In the sun, a mommy hen and her baby chicks came out for a walk, scanning the ground for grain.

“What a beautiful family. They seem happy and free, ” the feather told itself. “It would be okay if I didn’t fly very high. It would not be bad at all to just stay and walk here. ” The feather really wished it could find the courage to ask the mommy hen whether it somehow belonged to her.

But the feather had used up all its bravery.

In the warm sun, the mommy hen began to lift her wings.

And… Aha! She was missing just A FEATHER!

Cao Wenxuan

Roger Mello

Cao Wenxuan is a literature professor inPeking University.He is also a member of China Writers

Famous Illustrator, writer and playwright from Brazil. He is considered hours concours by

Association and the Vice-Prisident of Beijing Writers Association.He has won more than 40 awards

Fundação Nacional do Livro Infantil e Juvenil (FNLIJ), Brazilian Section of IBBY. Roger Mello was

and nominations, such as the Nomination for the H.C. Andersen Award, the Chinese National Book

awarded many times by FNLIJ and Brazilian Book Chamber, awarded with 9 Jabuti awards. He was

Award by General Administration of Press and Publicaiotn (GAPP), the Golden Butterfly Award of

nominated twice to Hans Christian Andersen Award - Illustrator 2010 & 2012, being among the 5

Tehran International Film Festival.

World finalists in 2010 and 2012.

His representative works include Thatched Cottage, The Red Tile, Downpour, some of which have been translated into English, French, Japanese and Korean.

I am always excited to read a great story and what more if the story is beautifully illustrated. The beautiful story by Cao Wenxuan of a feather seeking an answer as to its origin was brought to life by the most colorful and beautiful illustrations by Roger Mello. I had the honour of meeting both of these talented gentlemen in the Bologna International Children Bookfair 2013 where the idea of bringing an author and illustrator from two different countries to work together in a project such as this was discussed and agreed upon. Of course I am very happy to see its fruition through this book.

Among IBBY’s missions are to encourage the publication and distribution of quality children books. IBBY also believes that children should have access to books with high literacy and artistic standards. As such I am happy to be able to witness the publication of this book as a manifestation of our mission. i am also excited by the successful collaboration by two great individuals from two different countries in producing such quality book that appeals to all. Congratulations to both Mr Cao and Mr Roger Mello on this great book. Also congratulations to the publisher for initiating and making this effort a success.

President of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Redza Khairuddin