This story is about a girl who fights her brothers because she is doing all the chores and wants them to change. Throughout the story, she learns to stick up for herself and take charge. ( )

The daughter of a widowed Russian immigrant taxi driver in France, Paulina loved to play the piano. Unfortunately, her brothers, who weren't mean "exactly," always made her do the chores, leaving her little time for her passion. Getting fed up one day with the situation, Paulina takes up boxing, determined to gain the skills to beat her brothers and get them to share some of the housework. Discovering her strength - including a surprising left punch! - Paulina shows her family that she isn't the "Feather" they think...

Originally published in France as Brindille, this engaging picture-book about a girl who has to struggle a bit to find her place in her family, and in the world, was published here in the USA by the wonderful Brooklyn-based Enchanted Lion Books, which specializes in translated children's books. It was chosen as one of The New York Times' Best-Illustrated Children's Books of 2017, and Rémi Courgeon's artwork is certainly attention-grabbing. I liked how expressive his characters' eyes were - Feather's father's eyes, in the rearview mirror, or Feather's eyes themselves - and (of course) I also liked Feather's cat, who manages to get into some humorous scrapes in the scenes set in her apartment home. I also enjoyed the narrative, and thought it was interesting that the heroine takes up boxing simply as a means to an end, rather than as a vocation, as this was somewhat unexpected. When I considered it some more, I really appreciated the ending, as Paulina's true passion - the piano - was her motivation for picking up the boxing gloves in the first place, and I am impatient with the idea that girls and women can only be empowered by becoming fighters. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books about strong girls. ( )

Paulina, nicknamed "Feather," fights her older brothers to determine who will be stuck with the household chores, even though all she wants to do is play the piano. Having had enough one day, she decides to pick up boxing and shows quite an affinity for it.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this picture book. It seems to read almost like a biography -- especially with the small particular details, such as the "Feather" nickname, the idiosyncratic hobbies of the brothers, and the father's job as a taxi driver after emigrating from Russia where he was a coal miner. But as far as I can tell, this is a complete work of fiction. Feather's story is a bit scattered too, as she seems to get into boxing randomly but then later drops it completely in favor of the piano once more.

The illustrations, for which this book was noted in The New York Times, are indeed eye-catching. One of the fun little details is finding Feather's cat on the page and what nonsense he has gotten into in that scene. The book itself is a bit oversized, making it appealing in that way as well. ( )