Distant Feathers - Hardcover

Tim Egan is the author and illustrator of several offbeat and humorous tales for children. He is consistently recognized for his individuality and delightful illustrations. Born in New Jersey, Tim moved to California to attend the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He still lives in southern California with his wife, Ann, and their two sons. To learn more about Tim Egan, visit his Web site at www.timegan.com. For a complete list of books by Tim Egan, visit www.houghton mifflinbooks.com.

Kindergarten-Grade 2AOne evening, Sedrick Van Pelt hears a tapping on his study window and discovers an enormous red bird peering in at him. Fleeing in fear, Sedrick stumbles and falls, but the giant creature poses no immediate threat. A visitor from another planet, Feathers loves bread of any kind. In time, however, the villagers grow weary of trying to satisfy his voracious appetite and his clumsiness results in townwide havoc. Only after a hurricane roars through the hamlet and blows him away is he truly missed. Days later, he reappears on Sedrick's roof and happily spends the remainder of his years in the Van Pelt yard, regaling everyone with stories about his home planetAEarth. Aside from the punch line, this tale of an unappreciated visitor never gets off the ground. The flippant conversational tone of the text provides some humor but not enough drama to sustain interest. The unfolding of events is choppy and the action is often illogical. The benign blue villagers with long snouts, pointed ears, and a predilection for jaunty plumed hats hint at an otherworldly setting but are curiously flat. Egan's ink-and-watercolor illustrations vary from full-page to small vignettes; while they provide lots of interesting detail, they are less than compelling. Lacking the clever zaniness of Burnt Toast on Davenport Street (1997) or the pithy lesson of Metropolitan Cow (1996, both Houghton), this newest offering falls in the featherweight category.ACarol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, NJ
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