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Author
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Comment
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Nancy
Unregistered User
(9/21/03 7:37 pm)
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About a bird...
Does anyone know a fairy tale about a plain brown bird who (for some now-forgotten reason) is given a beautiful, colored feather from each of the other birds and so becomes transformed into the most beautiful, multicolored bird ? This tale has haunted me for years since I read it as a little girl in the early '60's. I believe it was in a book of other tales, and it was definately illustrated, although I think the illustration(s) were simple. Thanks in advance for any help you can give this newbie!
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Jess
Unregistered User
(9/23/03 7:40 am)
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I remember that story
and it was all that long ago that I ran into it again. So now I need to work through the memory banks to figure out where I saw it. I even remember thinking as a child that the moral was so different than a similar story by Dr. Seuss.
Jess
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Nancy
Unregistered User
(9/23/03 8:38 pm)
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Jess
If your synapses begin firing away & you remember the name/place/author (...anything !!...) I would surely love to hear from you! :-) Nancy
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Jess
Unregistered User
(9/24/03 8:00 pm)
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Still working on it
Don't give up on me yet. I will find this story. I just haven't had much time the last couple of days.
Jess
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Ron McCutchan
Unregistered User
(9/25/03 5:01 pm)
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Not what you're looking for, but in the ballpark
There's an Aesop's fable about a vain crow who wants to "become" a peacock and tucks a peacock plume in with his feathers--but his harsh crow's voice betrays him and he's turned away by the peacocks and rejected by his own kind as well for trying to be what he's not (kind of a downer story).
Ashley Bryan also has a picture book based on an African folktale--BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD--where the blackbird, originally the only bird with black plumage, shares its color with all the other birds, increasing their beauty (which is an inversion of the original folktale--I saw an exhibit of the art from the book at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, MA, and they provided the text of the source tale as well as the book text--in the original, the blackbird "curses" the other birds with blackness).
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Nancy
Unregistered User
(9/26/03 8:17 am)
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Jess
Thank you, Ron!
I do know the Aesop's Tale, but the other one is new to me - I actually live about an hour from Amherst, Ma & didn't know about the Carle museum - I assume it is part of a school? Beautiful Blackbird is intriguing because it is an inversion, like you said, but also because it originates in Africa yet sees blackness as a "curse". I think the American-ized version of it is a lovely & resonant message.
Thanks again, & still hoping my original question rings a bell with someone ...any luck Jess?
:-)
Nancy
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janeyolen
Registered User
(9/26/03 11:15 am)
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Museum
The Eric Carle Museum, while on grounds it acquired from Hampshire College, has no affiliation with any college. It is itself.
Worth the trip.
Jane
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Nancy
Unregistered User
(9/27/03 7:53 am)
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Jane
Thank you Jane! Will definately look into it & take a drive.
~Nancy
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Jess
Unregistered User
(9/27/03 8:55 am)
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Driving me crazy too
Nancy,
This is really bugging me. I know this story and I am pretty sure I read it in the last year! I have yet to check with the kids' librarians in case it was at one of their schools that I ran across that book. Don't worry. It may take me a while, but I WILL find it. Just very busy with birthdays for two of my three sons.
Jess
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selkie
no
Registered User
(9/27/03 10:55 am)
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Sounds familiar
I have heard two versions of this tale, unfortunatly it`s so long ago that I don`t know where to find them.
They bouth start with God creating earth and all it`s living creatures. He has created the birds, but not yet givin them color. He tells them all to pick a desired color and line up in front of him. In one of the versions one bird, I think it is the raven, is chattering and babling about him going to be so much cooler than all the other birds and forgets that he have to line up and pick a color. In the other version one bird is so modest that he lets all the other birds get before him in the line, and when it`s at last his turn he is to shy to pick a color. In bouth versions God is out of color when the last bird gets before him, but God, being a nice and creative person ask the other birds to line up again. Then he asks the uncolored bird to storke its feathers against all the other birds. As the paint hasn`t dried yet, the bird gets a little color from every of the other bird. So little that it is not visible in common daylight, but when the sun shines on him, he beams in all imaginable colors. (the spell check isn`t working...)
Selkie
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Nancy
Unregistered User
(9/27/03 6:12 pm)
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Yes!
Selkie No,
It is the one with the modest bird! Yes! I don't remember the part about the colors only showing at night, but that doesn't even matter. I'm delighted that you remembered this! Thank You! Now if we can only figure out where it came from! Are there other sites that anyone knows of to search for this tale now that the actual story is a bit more filled in? Thanks again!
:-)
~Nancy
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AlisonPegg
Registered User
(9/28/03 4:17 am)
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A goldfinch?
Wasn't it a goldfinch? The story seems to ring a bell....
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Nancy
Unregistered User
(9/28/03 8:55 pm)
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Ringing Bells
This story seems to be ringing alot of faint bells on here!
The bird may be a goldfinch, but I always thought of it as a little brown wren ---so long ago though---
Thanks all for for helping!
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Jess
Unregistered User
(9/28/03 10:53 pm)
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A wren
Good Nancy! I thought it was a wren too (in fact I did an Internet search with wren as a keyword to no avail)! We are definitely on the same track. I looked at all the Aesop Fables, but didn't find any similar stories. Anything else you can remember?
Jess
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AlisonPegg
Registered User
(9/29/03 2:18 am)
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Brown bird becomes goldfinch???
Does the little brown bird not become a goldfinch as a result of being painted with the left over paint? There were only small amounts of colour left.....
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Jess
Unregistered User
(10/6/03 7:21 pm)
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"Dazzle"?
The librarians at my local library did some digging and thought that the book might be "Dazzle" by Diane Massie. It was not available at our library except through interlibrary loan. I will let you know when I see it.
Jess
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Nancy
Unregistered User
(10/7/03 7:45 am)
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Jess
Thank you, Jess! I will look for it at my local libe. Sounds to be a re-working of my older tale...?
:-)
Nancy
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