A Handful of Down: New Medieval Fable

In a world of straw, a peasant girl reaches for a cloud. What she does when she finally holds it will change her whole village - and ask every reader, young and old, what is worth keeping and what is worth giving away. In a wattle-and-daub cottage at the bottom of a great hill, a peasant girl named Millicent lives in the shadow of the castle above.One autumn day, the lady of the castle rides past in her carriage, and Millicent catches a glimpse through the lifted curtain - a pillow, white and soft, plump with down, softer than anything the girl has ever known. She cannot forget it.For years, she gathers. A tuft of goose down here, a small soft feather there - patiently, secretly, through teasing and scolding and the long turning of the seasons. Until at last, she has enough to sew a pillow of her own.But the pillow does not bring her what she expected. The women of the village turn from her. The softness she reached for has become a wall between Millicent and the people she has always known - and she must decide what matters more: the thing she has made, or the world she made it in.A Handful of Feathers is a quiet medieval fable about longing, generosity, and the small soft things that can change a whole village.A gentle fable for ages 5-10 about the difference between holding on and letting go - and about the gifts that grow only when they are shared.Study guide for teachers, parents and librarians is included in the back of the book.