The Peacock's Pride

Teya Rosenberg is an assistant professor of English specializing in
children’s literature at Southwest Texas State University.

This fable about pride and its dangers also demonstrates that beauty
comes in many forms.

The birds around the water hole cannot drink because a viper lurks
there and threatens them all. Peacock, annoyed that the other birds are
too preoccupied to notice his beauty, hypnotizes the viper using the
magnificence of his tail and then kills him, thus becoming king of the
water hole. Soon Peacock becomes as much of a tyrant as the viper was.
The humble Koel, a plain black bird, challenges Peacock to give up his
kingdom if Koel can show that his beauty is as great as Peacock’s. He
then sings a most beautiful song, which Peacock, to his chagrin, cannot
match. Thus, to this day, Peacock trails his tail behind him, “no
longer blinded by pride.”

Based on the folklore of northern India, the story is well told and
well supported by Jo’Anne Kelly’s illustrations. Their highly
decorative backgrounds, reminiscent of rich fabrics, supply minimal
narrative details, thus placing the focus on the bird characters, who
are depicted realistically. An author’s note at the end of the book
gives information about peacocks and Indian folk tales. Recommended.