To the traditional custodians of the lands on which I walk. —EP
To my family, remember, the world is full of magic. To mum and dad, for everything. — JS
Published in Australia in 2025 by Little Steps Publishing Suite 83/20-40 Meagher Street Chippendale, NSW 2008
Text copyright © 2025 Eleanor Pearson
Illustration copyright © 2025 Julie Spencer
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publishers. All rights reserved.
A Catalogue-In-Publication entry for this book is available from the National Library of Australia.
HB: 978-1-923306-06-6
PB: 978-1-923306-03-5
Designed by Celeste Hulme
Printed in China
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TheGirl with aFeather in her Hair
Eleanor Pearson
Illustrated by Julie Spencer
I see the girl with a feather in her hair. She kicks up dust as she walks along the road.
She hums to the rhythm of her footsteps as her fingers brush the tips of the tall grass.
She reaches for butterflies and squints at the brightness of the sun.
She waves to her shadow;
then crouching, stretching and jumping,
she tries to catch it off guard.
She breathes in the scent of a crushed eucalyptus leaf
n d blows dandelion pappus high into theair.
She whispers to the ladybirds and warbles to the magpies.
She traces the lines of the scribbly gum, then presses her cheek to its mighty trunk.
She dusts her arm with wattle blossom and slips a heart-shaped stone into her pocket.
She rescues a beetle from a puddle and smiles at her rippling reflection.
She ducks under a spider’s web to inspect the activity on the anthill.
I see the girl with a feather in her hair.
She balances on a fallen log, then dips her bare feet into the cool crickling creek.
She follows a floating flower and writes her name in the sand.
She searches for splashes of blue amongst a thousand shades of green.
She spins in the wind as she dances to the song of the bush.
She is the dust and the dandelion, the wattle and the web, the scribbly gum and the stone.
I see the girl with a feather in her hair.
Eleanor Pearson
