The King of the Birds

by Acree Graham Macam, Natalie Nelson (Illustrator)

Overview

A young girl brings home a peacock, but he refuses to show off his colorful tail! Inspired by the life of Flannery O'Connor.

In this picture book, inspired by the life of Flannery O’Connor, a young fan of fowl brings home a peacock to be the king of her collection, but he refuses to show off his colorful tail. The girl goes to great lengths to encourage the peacock to display his plumage — she throws him a party, lets him play in the fig tree, feeds him flowers and stages a parade — all to no avail.

Then she finally stumbles on the perfect solution. When she introduces the queen of the birds — a peahen — to her collection, the peacock immediately displays his glorious shimmering tail.

This delightful story, full of humor and heart, celebrates the legacy of a great American writer.

Includes an author’s note about Flannery O’Connor.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554988518
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	09/01/2016
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	689,149
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

ACREE GRAHAM MACAM is an advertising copywriter and the winner of Emory University’s Louis B. Sudler Prize in the Arts for creative writing. This is her first picture book.

NATALIE NELSON is an illustrator and author of many books for children. Her most recent titles include Dog's First Baby and Cat's First Baby, published by Quirk Books, and Holiday!, published by Groundwood Books. Her illustrations have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post and numerous other editorial publications. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and two young children. 

Editorial Reviews

07/11/2016
Flannery, a bespectacled girl in a plaid dress, earns a national newspaper mention with a chicken she trains to walk backward, but her celebrity career ends there. Now, with things “a little too quiet,” she adds a peacock to her yard of fowl, but he won’t display his magnificent tail. “What’s wrong with him?” the boy next door asks. Flannery courts the peacock with a party and flowers, but nothing works. Then she gets a peahen, and that produces results: “With a proud sigh, he raised his tail into an enormous green-gold arch that circled his body like a giant glimmering crown.” Nelson stages the scenes on hand-painted taupe paper with cutout shapes, old prints of speckled hens, photographs of elderly neighbors, and other scrapbook ephemera. In a brief, graceful afterword, Macam and Nelson explain that the story is based on writer Flannery O’Connor, who kept fowl as a child and trained a hen to walk backward. (They note that O’Connor’s work “proved that everybody—even preachers and grandmothers—needs to be forgiven.”) It’s a droll, low-key debut for both author and artist. Ages 4–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Nelson’s distinctive mixed-media art, fusing illustration with archival photographs, is the perfect visual counterpart to this imaginative interpretation of the facts of O’Connor’s life.

Brain Pickings

The story and art are lighthearted and whimsical…

The Horn Book

Delightful illustrations lend humor and charm to an already wonderful story.

Midwest Book Review

Selected as a Children's Book All Young Georgians Should Read



"Readers with a taste for the quirky will flock to this tale . . . the unexpected antics of birds and child sustain interest whether O'Connor's name is familiar to readers or not." — Kirkus Reviews

"This quirky-but-true story is nothing short of charming." — Booklist

"The story and art are lighthearted and whimsical..." — The Horn Book

"Nelson’s distinctive mixed-media art, fusing illustration with archival photographs, is the perfect visual counterpart to this imaginative interpretation of the facts of O’Connor’s life." — Brain Pickings

"Delightful illustrations lend humor and charm to an already wonderful story." — Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

09/01/2016
PreS-Gr 2—Flannery enjoys 15 minutes of fame after she teaches her chicken to walk backward and a journalist from New York covers the story. In an attempt to maintain the heightened barnyard mood, the girl adds more birds to her collection. When that effort fails, she purchases a peacock and puts him in charge. Despite attempts to cajole the "king" into displaying his tail—she throws a party, feeds him flowers, and leads a parade—he refuses to oblige. Softly textured tan pages provide a warm backdrop for Nelson's digitally composed scenes, in which black-and-white landscape photographs contrast with the colorful fowl created from painted paper. Deadpan expressions on the birds match the understated storytelling. When a solution presents itself in the form of a peahen and the peacock finally fans his tail, "the queen look[s] down at the ground, interested in some rocks that [are] there." An author's note reveals that the germ of this tale was drawn from the childhood of writer Flannery O'Connor, who later in life also raised peacocks. While this literary anecdote has charm, the book would benefit from stronger narrative elements. It is not clear until several pages in whether Flannery is the child or the chicken. Two conversations with the boy next door don't contribute much. The excitement that Flannery yearns for feels unattained—perhaps a result of birds and girl always wanting more and the moments themselves being presented in an underwhelming manner. VERDICT Interesting as a historical footnote, but it doesn't hold up for repeated readings.—Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

School Library Journal

2016-06-22
Readers with a taste for the quirky will flock to this tale inspired by Flannery O'Connor's love of peafowl. In rural Georgia, little Flannery trains her chicken to walk backward, earning the duo a few moments in the spotlight and awakening in the child a taste for more excitement. An ever expanding assortment of feathered friends ensues, each individual bird delightfully expressive thanks to Nelson's masterful collage illustrations in muted retro tones. A mail-order peacock is the seemingly inevitable crowning addition to this collection, but his coy reluctance to display his tail feathers demands creative problem-solving on the part of his young mistress. Books for young people about famous individuals whose work they cannot yet appreciate sometimes fall flat; in this case, the unexpected antics of birds and child sustain interest whether O'Connor's name is familiar to readers or not. However, the book would have benefitted from more detailed biographical and source information than the brief concluding note (for example, no mention is made of O'Connor's essay "King of the Birds," which details her avian adventures). Feathered friends of many varieties adorn this charming volume that evokes bygone times of unfettered outdoor play and highlights a little-known episode in the life of a remarkable woman, but the peacock truly rules the roost. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews