While developing Nest, I lived in the Presidio National Park. A plum tree grew right outside the kitchen window and I had a year-round view of the robins living there. Those backyard birds were magical - from their flying and singing to their feathers and eggs. Spending hours watching them while cooking inspired me to share their world with my world. I have a degree in art history from Princeton and a law degree from Stanford. I worked as a textile designer in New York before going out on my own as an author and artist. Currently, I share a studio with my architect-husband and I draw every day.
This book was a favorite from my own childhood and, more recently, I loved reading it to my own kids. The story has just the right amount of drama as the father bird searches high and low for his missing family. I also think it’s fun to see a story about birds with a predominantly urban setting (it is about pigeons living in San Francisco), though I may be biased because it’s set near where I live today.
A Caldecott Honor book from the highly acclaimed author and illustrator of Corduroy!
Sid the pigeon is very choosy about finding just the right home in the magnificent city of san Francisco. And find it he does, in the loop of a huge b in an electric sign high up on a skyscraper. Sid's view of San Francisco is without equal. So Sid asks the lovely dove Midge to share his home. But one morning, while Midge is taking her turn sitting on two eggs, disaster strikes. A truck comes and workers take down the letters on the skyscraper one…
Although many of Lois Ehlert’s works are now classics, I wasn’t familiar with her work until I was an adult. Her illustration style and simplicity of her books have had a big impact on my work. This book about the greatest enemy of backyard birds (the housecat) is graphically gorgeous and (spoiler alert) ends with a hungry cat and all the birds unharmed.
An escaped house cat encounters twelve common birds in the backyard but captures only feathers for lunch. Includes bird guide. “Destined to become an uncontested favorite with many children and adults.”--The Horn Book
Though it’s kind of incidental that it’s about a bird, I’m including it because it is hands-down one of my favorite read-aloud books for little kids. It’s great for a group of noisy preschoolers and equally good to snuggle up and read one-on-one with a child. Kids love knowing better than the pigeon and really love being the one to lay down the law with this silly bird and his repeated, ridiculous questions. Because every preschooler knows that you don’t let the pigeon drive the bus
When the bus driver decides to take a break from driving, a wild and wacky pigeon pleads and begs to take his place, in a hilarious picture book that perfectly captures a preschooler's temper tantrum.
I recommend this book because of my love of Steve Jenkins’s illustrations. I think he is one of the great illustrators of animals for kids' books, and his work is a perfect blend of accuracy and abstraction. In this book, his illustrations are paired with Jennifer Ward’s charming text that’s well suited to read aloud to the youngest children.
A delightful exploration of the incredibly variety of nests birds build for their babies, illustrated by a Caldecott Honoree.
Mama built a little nest inside a sturdy trunk. She used her beak to tap-tap-tap the perfect place to bunk.
There are so many different kinds of birds-and those birds build so many different kinds of nests to keep their babies cozy. With playful, bouncy rhyme, Jennifer Ward explores nests large and small, silky and cottony, muddy and twiggy-and all the birds that call them home!
This classic, set in Boston, is a nice east coast counterpart to Fly High, Fly Low, which is based in San Francisco. Also about a bird family on the move through the city, anyone who has seen a string of ducklings trailing their mother will acknowledge that such a procession is worth the traffic-stopping disruption they cause here.
This brilliantly illustrated, amusingly observed tale of Mallards on the move has won the hearts of generations of readers. Awarded the Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children in 1941, it has since become a favourite of millions. This classic tale of the famous Mallard ducks of Boston is available for the first time in a full-sized paperback edition. Make Way for Ducklings has been described as "one of the merriest picture books ever" (The New York Times). Ideal for reading aloud, this book deserves a place of honor on every child's bookshelf.
Simple text and beautiful illustrations follow a baby bird through the seasons in this sweet tale. From birth, to first flight, to a new friend, the first year of a bird’s life is full of activity and wonder. The book Nest pairs vivid, crisp artwork with simple, minimal text—often just one word per spread—to create a breathtaking, peaceful chronicle of nature and life’s milestones.
As a child, I lived in a small valley sheltered from the night city lights. I could see the stars, and from that time, that is where my imagination dwelled. As a teenager, I read several of the books I have listed here, and from that point, I was inspired to read more and also to write myself. I sincerely believe that despite our current problems, humanity will outlive its troubled childhood and reach for the stars. We are destined for the stars, and only in the works of science fiction writers is that future explored. The books below helped me to become a successful author in my own right.
An alien starship appears in the Solar System! Humanity faces a glorious future, or total extinction, and only Joe Falcon can make the choice. Never would Joe have imagined it would fall to him to make the decision that would alter the destiny of two worlds, launching humanity towards a glorious future, or to extinction.
Falcon's Call is an action packed dive into the unknown, written in the style of the great, classic, science-fiction stories. If you like surprising plot twists, compelling characters and a hero who actually cares, you must read this new novel by Mike Waller.
Reader's Favorite Gold Medal winner 2019 B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree 2019 Chill With A Book Premier Award 2019
In a heart-pounding battle for humanity's survival, one man holds the key to a glorious future or utter extinction.
In a race against time, Earth and Mars race to claim a derelict alien ship as it enters the Solar System, both aware that whichever planet succeeds might in so doing achieve technological advantage over the other. But who should they send? Joe Falcon, an unlikely candidate, never saw himself as the "right" person. Accompanied by a crew of misfits, each fleeing their own…
