about the book
Birds’ feathers are not just for flying. In fact, they serve many different purposes. “Feathers can warm like a blanket… or cushion like a pillow. [They] can shade out the sun like an umbrella… or protect skin like sunscreen.”
Depending on where the bird lives, its feathers have different functions. Discover how feathers from the United States, South America, India, Africa, and Antarctica are unique!
This scrapbook is full of informative sidebars and life-size feathers. Common species like jays, cardinals, penguins, and swans share pages with exotic birds such as the rosy-lovebird of Namibia and a sandgrouse found in the Gobi Desert.
about the author
One of Melissa Stewart’s favorite memories from childhood is the time she went with her father and brother on a long walk through the woods surrounding their New England home. She will never forget when they came to a different part of the woods, and her father asked her the simple question: “Do you notice anything unusual about the trees in this part of the woods?”
Melissa thought about it for a little, then said that all the trees seemed smaller. Her father praised her observation! There had been a forest fire in that part of the woods not so long ago, and so they were all younger trees than she was used to seeing.
This encounter sparked a lifelong interest in the natural world for Melissa. She decided she wanted to find out as much about nature as possible, and so took lots of science classes when she could in high school and college. She also enjoyed her writing classes, which led to one of her college professors to tell her that she should become a science writer. So she did!
Source:
Author website
Also by Melissa Stewart:
Hurricane Watch (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science). Harper Collins. June 2015.
Meteors (National Geographic Readers). National Geographic. 2015.
Water (National Geographic Readers). National Geographic. 2014.
Robots (National Geographic Readers). National Geographic. 2014.
World’s Fastest Animals (American Museum of Natural History). Sterling. 2014.
Beneath the Sun. Peachtree. 2014.
Deadly Predators (National Geographic Readers). National Geographic. 2013.
The All About a Rainbow of Animals series. Enslow Elementary. 2012.
The Animal Bodies Up Close series. Enslow Elementary. 2012.
A Place for Fish. Peachtree. 2011.
The Which Animal Is Which? series. Enslow Elementary. 2011.
A Place for Frogs. Peachtree. 2010.
A Place for Birds. Peachtree. 2009.
A Place for Butterflies. Peachtree. 2006.
about the illustrator
Sarah Brannen has always been an artist. Her father gave her drawing lessons before she could even write!
When she was showing prints and paintings in galleries, Sarah became increasingly unhappy with both the gallery scene and with her work. So she tried illustrating children’s books. To learn more about illustrating, she started writing and discovered she also loves to write!
Now Sarah has illustrated over fifteen children’s books. Feathers: Not Just for Flying was the 2014 Cybil winner and an ALA notable book. In fact, Sarah is in the same writing group as Feathers’ author Melissa Stewart.
Sarah has a bachelor’s degree in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard and a master’s in fine arts from the University of Pennsylvania.
She is a part-time journalist and photographer for Skating magazine. Sarah lives in Massachusetts.
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator biography: Feed Your Need to Read
Illustrator interview: Cybils
Illustrator interview: Writers’ Rumpus
Also by Sarah S. Brannen:
The Fox and the Grapes (Silver Penny Stories) by Kathleen Olmstead. Sterling Publishing. 2014.
The Ugly Duckling (Silver Penny Stories) by Diane Namm. Sterling Publishing. 2014.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Silver Penny Stories) by Kathleen Olmstead. Sterling Publishing. 2014.
The Very Beary Tooth Fairy by Arthur A. Levine. Scholastic. 2013.
The ABC Book of American Homes by Michael Shoulders. Charlesbridge. 2008.
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