Author Sara Levine on Birds, Childhood, and Curiosity- plus a GIVEWAY! « Lydia Lukidis
Author Sara Levine on Birds, Childhood, and Curiosity- plus a GIVEWAY!
Hello world!!
Welcome to my kidlit blog, Blissfully Bookish. This week, I got to interview an an award winning author who I have always admired and has written some of my favorite nonfition books. Please say hi to Sara Levine, here to discuss her new fiction picture book, A VISIT WITH THE BIRDS: A HANDS-ON NATURE BOOK, illustrated by Ashley Barron, and published by Sourcebooks Explore.
BUT first- YAY! Sara is generously giving away a FREE copy of her book, simply comment on this blog. US only, contest ends May 29, 2026.
Please describe the journey to publication and inspiration for A VISIT WITH THE BIRDS: A HANDS-ON NATURE BOOK. I’m wondering if there’s a personal connection to the topic, do you have a love of birds? It’s a topic children will enjoy.
I grew up on a farm surrounded by woods, caring for over 100 animals, many of them birds: chickens, ducks, geese, and peafowl. I learned how to gain the trust of the ducks enough that they’d allow me to lift each one of them by hand and carry them into the barn for the winter when the pond froze over. I held and comforted an old friend, an ancient chicken, on my lap for her last hours of life. When a peahen couldn’t hatch out her own eggs, I placed chicken eggs under her and shared her joy when they hatched and she began to raise her unique family. I learned to mimic the calls of the wild birds that came by to eat the leftover cracked corn I’d scattered by the barn for the domestic ones, and their choruses became the background of my childhood. When you grow up so close to animals, you learn their languages and preferences like you learn those of your siblings.
As an adult, I used this practical and intuitive knowledge in my work as a veterinarian, as a biology professor at Wheelock College, and as an environmental educator for young children at various camps and nature centers.
One important thing I’ve learned from my own experiences and from teaching adults and children is that having a hands-on, one-on-one interaction with an animal creates a bond. And this bond is the best way to foster empathy, interest, and care for other animals and the natural world. Some children are lucky enough to grow up as I did, immersed in nature and with animals as close companions. But we can also foster these connections for children who are growing up more distant from the natural world.
Cities are teeming with animals who are open for connection, in part because they are so used to living among us. I wrote A VISIT WITH THE BIRDS: A HANDS-ON NATURE BOOK to guide adults in connecting children to the common birds and other wildlife found in urban parks. There are many interesting, beautiful, funny, and intriguing birds to be found in this habitat—house sparrows, pigeons, starlings, and others. This book is in part a love letter to these birds, and in part a guide for adults to help children notice, engage with, and fall for the animals who share their part of the earth.
What message would you like the book to impart to children?
There are birds that live near you no matter where you live. Go outside and find them and see if you can connect with them. They want to know you too.
Please paste a short and compelling excerpt.
Should we try calling them over?
Let’s make some bird sounds.
They aren’t coming.
Maybe they’re hungry.
Should we try feeding them?
Grab a handful of seeds and toss them into the air.
What kinds of activities do you outline? Feel free to give us an example.
The book is a hands-on trip to a city park and invites children to interact with birds using various senses: to look for birds of different colors, to make birds sounds to call them over, to feed them, to be quiet so as not to scare them away, to empathize with them.
What is your writing process and does it vary depending on the project?
I tend to write in my head while walking outside. And then, once I have a general idea of what I want to do, I sit down at the library and write a first draft. And then, of course: revision, revision, revision. With valued feedback from writing group friends, my daughter, children in my life and my agent.
Please share your favorite nonfiction books that inspired you.
What Do You Do With A Tail Like This? by Steven Jenkins and Robin Page is a big mentor text for me because of the way it invites direct interaction and engagement with the children when reading, the inherent guess embedded in it, the guess which animal the book is referring to before the page turn. And, I also love this book because of its interesting science and beautiful illustrations.
What is the best (brief) piece of advice you would give to other writers?
Try to find topics that haven’t been written about yet for children that you know a lot about and care a lot about.
And a bonus question just for kicks! What was your favorite book when you were a child?
Christina Katerina & Her Box by Patricia Lee Gauch
Wisher by Charles M. Daugherty and James Daugherty
Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume.
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Bio
Sara Levine is a veterinarian, a science educator, and an author of 14 picture books. Her titles have received the American Association for Advancement of Science/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science, Bank Street College Best Book of the Year, Beehive Book Award, Cook Prize, Animal Behavior Society Award, Blueberry Honor Award, Junior Library Guild Selection and the Mathical Book Prize. Sara lives in Stony Creek, CT with her daughter.
Links
Website: https://www.saralevinebooks.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saralevinebooks/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saralevinebooks/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/saraclevinebooks.bsky.social
