The Peacock

A girl must find a home for a stray peacock before winter arrives.

3.5 Goodreads · 20 ratings

96 pages· 740L

$8.95Save 4%

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Bookroo's summary

In 1947 Toronto, young Barbara faces an unusual challenge: a peacock has taken residence in her backyard. With her father in Europe aiding refugees, Barbara must devise a clever plan to relocate the bird to the zoo. As her mother frets and her brothers cause chaos, Barbara's determination grows. Can she earn the peacock's trust and find it a safe home before winter arrives? This tale, inspired by true events, weaves a story of resilience and creativity in the face of unexpected challenges.

From the publisher

What do you do about a peacock in your backyard? World War II has just ended and Barbara is waiting for things to get back to normal. But, instead, her father has to travel to Europe, leaving their Toronto home behind. His company has a plan to give Jewish refugees jobs as tailors so they can immigrate to Canada with their families. So Barbara gets left with her rabble-rousing brothers and her melancholy mother…and a peacock that has just moved into the backyard. Her mother won’t go near it, and it clearly needs some other place to call home. The zoo says they don’t have room for another animal, but they can’t tell her how many they have. So what’s one more? Barbara comes up with a plan involving peanut butter cookies and her trusty wagon to bring the peacock to a safe home at the zoo–before winter hits. Based on the true story of the author’s own grandfather, Sam Posluns, who, along with several other Jewish business leaders, created the “Garment Workers’ Scheme” (aka The Tailor Project). This was a way of unlocking Canada’s harsh immigration laws and providing many refugees with a safer and happier future. The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

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