Agatha's Feather Bed: Not Just Another Wild Goose Story

If everything comes from something, where do the feathers in a feather bed come from? This dilemma (or rather the dilemma of six naked geese) confronts Agatha as she snuggles down for the first time in her brand new feather bed. The geese whose feathers she's sleeping on are not happy with the current state of events, and tell Agatha so. Seeing the justice of the geese's complaints, Agatha makes the geese warm, fluffy white coats to wear until their feathers grow back. This story loses much of its charm in a summary. The best part of the story is the idioms it uses. Agatha is a spinner and a storyteller: "She can spin a yarn better than anyone I know". That quote is just one of the many examples of the common phrases that take on a new meaning when talking to geese. That is what makes this book so special. Other than that, the story is told well; it flows nicely and is easy to read out loud. The illustrations are beautiful, but different. They abound with detail, and on each page is a box with a picture of a raw material, and what it is made into. (Cotton boll, cotton. Dinosaurs, fossil fuel.) The pictures are very expressive, very detailed, beautiful, and fun. A great story. Loggie-log-log-log

I've used this book in the classroom and have found students telling me when we've discovered where something comes from it's just like in Agatha's Featherbed. The book is remembered and students love the story. The ending comes as a wonderful surprise. What a wonderful modern day O'Henry adaptation for the Gift of the Magi. This book could be used for comparison to the O'Henry story. I read this book with my students year after year and each time I enjoy it a little more. It is too bad it is out of print. I think it's a remarkable book full of humor. It spurs students to inquire about where things come from. The author should know she's made an impression on me as well as my students. Thank you Ms. Deedy. The illustrations rank as a Caldecott. Thank you Ms. Seeley.

Agatha's Featherbed is a book laced with rich humor nad whimsical puns about the realtionship between a shopkeeper and six geese. There is a wonderous moral and that is intertwined within the pages. The author is a charming lady who animates through her stories the old world charm and the new world techniques.

Agatha loves to tell children were things come from, but she almost forgets that "nothing comes from nothing" when she orders a new feather bed. Things get really interesting when when 6 naked geese show up to talk to her about it! The story is thought provoking, and the illustrations enrich the story in a beautiful and informative way. Why this book did not win a Caldecott is beyond me!

This book holds the child's interest, as the story is interesting and the pictures are well-done and amusing. Even the adult enjoys the subtle jokes placed within the story. And the message for the children is a universal one. FIVE STARS