Broken Feather

by Verla Kay, Stephen Alcorn (Illustrator)

With the arrival of the white man, Broken Feather knows that things are changing in the world around him and so must maintain true to his heritage despite the troubling times ahead for he and his family.

Genres: Picture Books, Native American

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 14, 2002

About the author

Verla Kay is passionate about her writing and she loves cooking, playing computer games that have lots of puzzles in them to be solved and she also plays a lot of board, dice and card games with her family and friends (especially pinochle). She lives in a tiny town in eastern Washington, close to Spokane and the Idaho border with her husband of over 55 years and two long-haired Himalayan cats. Family is very important to her and she has four grown children (one married), four grown grandchildren (two married) and five great grandchildren that range in age from six to thirteen, most of whom live within visiting distance from her. She has previously had eleven historical picture books published, ten of them by Putnam. Wings Forever is her first self-published book and she is VERY proud of it! Visit Verla at: https://verlakay.com

Reviews

[Travis Kesinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be a great way to implement poetry in the classroom in an area other than a poetry unit. We discussed in class how necessary it is to keep poetry going far being a poetry unit. This would be great to use during a social studies lesson over native american culture and the conquest of present day America by settlers.

Purpose:
Read aloud to 3rd grade students
It would be a great way to present culture to students while also challenging them to remember elements taught during a poetry lesson in the course. This book is a great transitional point into a discussion over the hardships and trials that Native American people faced in the United States. This is an important, but somethings hard thing to bring up, and this book will aid in that process.

[Andrea Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad look into America's past and the culture that was forced onto reservations. Composed of short simple rhymes that tell stories of the Native American people and the circumstances of European invaders. The illustrations are amazing in my opinion, very beautifully done. This book would be best suited for 2nd or 3rd graders who may be learning of the discovery of America.

[Russell Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures to depict an ugly and often repeated story of treachery and loss.