Customer Reviews

She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head!

5 star:		(5)
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3 star:		(1)
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"She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head" is an absolutely wonderful book to illustrate how we need to be kind to our feathered friends! Great when read with "voices" to match the pinch-faced, conservation minded women who star in the book! Hurray to Kathryn Lasky for writing a this child-eye opener and to David Catrow for bringing it to life!

I wanted to like this book, I really did. The design is exquisite, the illustrations compelling with lush, gorgeous colors. The story is a fascinating one and the idea of turning it into a picture book for younger children was fantastic. It has many important themes such as the struggle for women's sufferage and the idea of empowerment, working for a cause you believe in, and the elements of successful political action, all told in a way that young children can understand. However, I found the text just a little too preachy for my taste, and I am very sympathetic to the cause. I don't think environmental causes are helped by looking down on those who view things differently, instead I would like to read books that help children to understand why there are differences of opinion and have empathy for those who are different. I found the words like "silly" "disgusting" "revolting" "nauseating" "ghastly" used to describe feather-wearers to be unconstructive, uncompassionate and not particularly admirable.

I am in first grade and I am six years old. I really like this book. The pictures are funny. I like the dodo bird and the heath hen, and the spoonbill escaping from the picture. I learned about the Audubon Society, it saves birds. I also learned that Harriet and Minna were cousins and real people. This book is great for ages six and up!

This may be seen as a children's book but it is historically accurate and we show it to those people taking the tour of The Hat Museum! Yes, they really did create hats made of whole birds and over 22,000 people worked in London alone just cleaning feathers for sale. An important link and just the very beginning of when people began to pay attention to animal rights and conservation. An important book.

I purchased this book for my 11-year-old granddaughter. It's a great TRUE story of a girl growing up to accomplish her goal. She was horrifed to learn that real birds were killed by the thousands to use their feathers on ladies hats. The story tells how she actually contributed to getting interest in outlawing this practic. Beautiful illustrations - fascinating from a fashion standpoint also, seeing all those huge hats from bygone days.

This is a wonderful story for girls. Two women see a problem and set out to solve it! They are energetic and resourceful and end up making a difference. I enjoyed it as much as my daughter.