Feathertop: Based on the Tale by Nathaniel Hawthorne

by Robert D. San Souci, Daniel San Souci

A classic Hawthorne tale is retold and illustrated by the San Souci brothers, now reissued in paperback. Long ago in New England, a powerful witch made a scarecrow from a collection of old scraps. The witch was so pleased with her creation that she decided to bring it to life. The scarecrow was transformed into a handsome young man and christened "Feathertop." The mischievous witch then sent Feathertop off to woo the beautiful Polly Gookin, and soon Feathertop and Polly were deeply in love. But Feathertop was, after all, merely a patchwork of sticks and witchcraft. Only the magic of love could make him truly human.

Genres: Picture Books, Witches, Magic, Love, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Robert Daniel San Souci (October 10, 1946 – December 19, 2014) was a multiple award-winning children's book author, who resided in San Francisco, California. He often worked with his brother, Daniel San Souci, a children's book illustrator. He was a consultant to Disney Studios and was instrumental in the production of the film Mulan, for which he wrote the story. He studied folklore in graduate school. He died after suffering a head injury while falling from a high height in San Francisco in December 2014. He was only 68 years old.

Reviews

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good retelling of Nathanial Hawthorne's tale. A village witch, Mother Rigby, wakes one morning and decides to build a scarecrow. Using spare kitchen utensils and old clothes and after summoning a pumpkin for a head, he's ready to go. But the witch doesn't intend to use him in her garden. She wants to play a trick on the local judge. Using her magic pipe, Mother Rigby blows smoke over the scarecrow and he becomes real. She instructs him to go down to the village and entrance the judge's daughter to fall in love with him. Naming him Feathertop and giving him a silver-headed cane, she sends him off.

Feathertop quickly finds the judge's house and the daughter, Polly, having seen him from the street, meets him at the door. He is invited in and after a few false starts, the two truly do fall in love. As they are on their way to the judge's office so Feathertop can ask for Polly's hand in marriage, he catches sight of himself in a mirror and is reminded of what he truly is. He flees from Polly and leaves her in tears, heart broken.

Feathertop returns to Mother Rigby and explains that he really did fall in love with the judge's daughter. Mother Rigby decides it would be best for him if he was a scarecrow. With a puff of her magic pipe, human man becomes scarecrow once again. The witch puts him out in her cornfield, but he is no good at scareing the birds away. In fact they seem all the more attracted to him.

One day Polly is out walking and comes across the scarecrow. There is something strange about him. She suddenly feels compelled to kiss the scarecrow. The witch approaches and encourages her to kiss him. Polly, not quite sure why, does kiss his hand. In no time, the scarecrow is back in his human form and off they go happily ever after.

[Set · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrendous book based on a frightening witch and a foolish and shallow woman that feel in love at first sight with a soulless flatterer. The illustrations are just plain creepy. I'll chuck it in the trash.

[Ro · Rating 5 out of 5]

🧙🧙🧙🧙🧙

[Luci · Rating 5 out of 5]

spooky and sweet

[D'artagnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful theme of new life coming from a loving touch. I've tried it, it's true, which is funny because the tale seems so beyond Blaine. Also, it reminds me of certain Baum books that I read and re-read time and time again as a kid. Scary too.

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

A woman conjures up a scarecrow for her garden, but decides to use the fellow to seek revenge on someone who had judged her magical ways. Hearts get broken unintentionally and the witch imparts that "All people in love are witches and wizards" in attempt to make up for her mischief.

[Staci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This re-telling of a Hawthorne story was so sweet and lovely. Awesome illustrations and a great story. We checked it out frmo the Library for Halloween and highly recommend it.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

got this the day after i read that robt. san souci had died. we lost one of our best.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feathertop as inspiration for Scarecrow and Jack Pumpkinhead in Oz. Cornfield as the place of self banishment for broken hearts.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2017/comm...

[Whitney Zollman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book about Nathaniel Hawthorne. Great illustrations and a great book for Halloween.