Don't Fly Away! Lali's Feather by Fahana Zia

LALI FOUND A FEATHER IN THE FIELD. WHOSE FEATHER?

LALI SET OUT TO FIND THE FEATHER A HOME.

The first bird she saw was Crow, but he said "Na!" His feathers give him speed.

"THAT FEATHER IS POKEY!"

Peacock says his feathers are fancier than the one Lali has. Lali points out that the lost feather is good for fanning the fire. Hen is not impressed, saying her feathers are good for keeping her eggs and chicks warm. Duck denies ownership, and Blue Jay says his feathers are admired everywhere for their color, not like that pokey feather.

Lali likes her pokey feather. She tickles her sister's nose and makes her sneeze. She tickles her dad's feet and wakes him up! Her feather is fun!

Lali takes her feather outside to show off all the things it can do, but a whooshy wind carries it away on the breeze.

Lali is sad and begins to sob. All the birds in the barnyard offer her one of their feathers, but she only wants her pokey feather back. So all the fowl set out to find that feather, and soon Lali has her feather back and her feathery friends to play with all day.

AND THE NEXT DAY LALI FOUND--A BLUE BUTTON!

In Fahana Zai's Lali's Feather (Peachtree Publishing, 2020), she creates a "light as a feather" story, portrayed by Stephanie Frazer-Coleman in light and bright illustrations, folkloric art and dialog which adds a touch of the exotic to this barnyard tale of fun and friendship. Says Booklist, "A surprise ending will have readers predicting the sequel to this just-for-fun story.”

Come Home, Kitty! Small in the City by Sydney Smith

I know what it's like to be small in the city.

It's beginning to snow and grow dark between the tall buildings. A small child with backpack and wool cap climbs down from the trolley and begins the rest of his trudge homeward. At first he seems to be talking to himself.

People don't see you

and loud sounds can scare you.

There are traffic and construction noises all around.

But the child knows how to navigate those streets. His advice is good.

He advises the unseen listener to avoid a dark alley and to keep some distance from big, fenced-in dogs.

But then we begin to see that there is another listener that the child seems to be advising. He points out safe trees to climb and a steamy dryer vent for warmth, and a church window ledge for listening to music-- and then, a kind fishmonger's shop.

They would probably give you a fish.

Through the increasingly heavy new snowfall, the child stops to put up a poster with a picture of a lost cat, a loved cat who has a full food dish and blanket waiting at home. And then, there's the child's mother, waiting for him and for the cat to come home.

I know you.

You will be all right.

Sydney Smith's new Small in the City (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House, 2019) has the message that knowledge can be protective, that the child and his missing cat can be safe in their familiar surroundings, a reassuring theme for young readers.

Skillfully, on his final page author-illustrator Sydney Smith shows the child's own door, with cat tracks close by in the snow, in shadow, but backed by early blooming bushes for a promising conclusion to this well-told story. Author-illustrator Smith captures the mood of the shadowy, stark cityscape, along with the welcoming places in the neighborhood that foreshadow the hinted-at happy ending. A subtle tale of confidence in self and hope that sustains.

Pass It On! The Pink Hat by Andrew Joyner

First, there wasn't a hat.

Then, there was...a pink hat.

Knitting by her window overlooking a busy street, a woman knits and knits until her knitting turns into a cozy pink hat, which she promptly stretches out to use as a foot warmer. But soon the woman drops it into her knitting basket and goes off to make herself a cup of tea.

But the hat doesn't stay there long. Her cat pounces on it, and bats it around... until he pushes it over the windowsill.

The wind catches the hat and blows it into the branches of a tree, where it catches the eye of some kids. One girl climbs the tree, but it is hard to reach the hat.... until the hat shakes loose and falls right onto a baby in a passing stroller, where his mother tucks it snugly around him and moves on.

That is, until... the baby gives a wiggle and a dog swipes it and makes a run for it. But when the dog gets bored and drops it, a girl passing by with a violin case rescues it.

The girl washed the hat ... and dried the hat.

She wore it again, and again, and again.

But that's not the end of the hat's adventures. It becomes a boxing glove, a mask for whomever is IT in hide-and-seek, and even a paintbrush sack... until....

She wore her pink hat,

And everyone else wore one, too!

The girl and dog join many women and some boys and men wearing pink hats in a crowd with signs that say GIRL POWER and WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, while the woman and her cat watch the parade go by from her window. It's not just a hat. It's a movement!

Andrew Joyner's The Pink Hat (Schwartz and Wade, 2017)l highlights the hat, the only bit of color in his charming black and white  illustrations with a cityscape filled with all sorts of people and pets as they merge into a multitude of pink knitted hats in the Women's March of 2017. The hat, of course, is both a cozy cap with many possibilities and a metaphor for the march of January 21, 2017, just right for youngsters who will enjoy the adventures of the traveling hat along the way to its big day. This one is just right for International Women's Day in March. Share this one with Kobi Yamada's similarly themed What Do You Do With an Idea?