Fur and Feathers - by Janet Halfmann (Paperback)

About the Book

A story of a young girl who dreams that howling winds whisk fur and feathers right off her animal friends. Trying to help, she sews each of them a new "coat." But what kind do they need? Who needs fur, and what color? Who needs feathers, and why? Who needs scales, and should they be moist or dry? Includes "For Creative Minds" educational section.

Book Synopsis

When Sophia dreams that howling winds whisk the fur and feathers right off her animal friends, she shares some of her clothes with them. But her clothing doesn't work well for the animals. Seeing their disappointment, she offers to sew each one the "right" coat. Animals line up to explain what they need and why. Polar Bear needs white fur to stay warm and hide in the snow. Fish needs scales, but with slime. Snake needs scales too, but dry ones. And how will Sophia make a prickly coat for Porcupine? The award-winning team of Halfmann and Klein (Little Skink's Tail) reunite to bring animal coverings (and classification) to life in an imaginative way. This fictional story includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 57-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Fur and Feathers is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.

Review Quotes

"Fur and Feathers is a creative picture book with a hands-on educational approach to the scientific classification of animals. - Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Laurie Allen Klein has been a freelance artist for nearly 25 years. Over the last several years, she has worked as the on-staff artist for a marine park, where she does everything from painting life-size sea animal murals to illustrating children's activity books. In addition to Saving Kate's Flowers, They Just Know, Laurie has illustrated The Ghost of Donley Farm, Fur and Feathers, Where Should Turtle Be?, Little Skink's Tail, Solar System Forecast, Meet the Planets, If a Dolphin Were a Fish and Balloon Trees for Arbordale. She was the winner of the Outstanding Pennsylvania Author/Illustrator Award from the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association in 2008 and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Laurie lives in Florida. See more of her artwork at lauriekleinarts.com.