The Birdmad Girl Review
The Birdmad Girl, written by Daniel Klawitter and illustrated by Robyn Calzada, tells the story of a young girl who learns to embrace stillness in order to attract birds to her yard.
As the birds arrive one by one, she (along with a silly squirrel) learns about each bird’s unique qualities.
From robins to cardinals and from parakeets to cockatoos, readers learn fun facts about each bird, including their eating habits, appearance, behaviors, habitats, and more. There are also lots of fun and silly tidbits, including mentions of cardinals’ mohawks and woodpecker pecks and a squirrel shaking his fists in the air as bluejays steal his nuts.
The end of the story finds that the birdmad girl is so filled with joy by the birds she’s observed that she grows her own wings and flies away!
This book was inspirational in such a quiet and unassuming way! The way the author poetically described each bird left me not only marveling at the facts I was learning but also admiring the natural beauty and diversity found in nature. It seemed to shout, “Look at how beautiful and incredible God’s creation is!” without shouting at all.
Speaking of, I also loved how the author gently viewed nature as God’s creation. As a Christian parent, it’s difficult to find children’s books that aren’t necessarily about God or faith, but still incorporate our family’s worldview.
This book invites readers to view nature through the lens of God’s design without feeling prescriptive or dogmatic. It inspires readers to consider faith outside of the four walls of a church or even the pages of the Bible, and to experience creation with a curious and present heart.
And I’m not going to lie…my daughter and I loved the squirrel!
Throughout the illustrations of birds, you’ll notice a squirrel observing, appreciating, and even fighting with the birds. His antics make each illustration and bird fact more accessible and fun.
Overall, this is a fun and mindful story that kids and adults alike are sure to enjoy. You can find The Birdmad Girl on Amazon.
The Birdmad Girl Author Interview
Want to learn more about author Daniel Klawitter? I did too! He was gracious enough to field a few questions and share what’s next for him!
Deb: The Birdmad Girl offers a fun, inspirational, and even educational (You had me googling the weight of a hummingbird!) review of different kinds of birds through the eyes of the “Birdmad Girl.” What inspired you to write it?
Daniel: Aw, thanks so much Deb! I’ve written two other books of children’s poetry (Put On Your Silly Pants and The Trickster: Poems for Very Clever Children & Silly Adults), but this is my first official picture book that is basically just one “epic poem” broken into sections and organized around a cohesive narrative.
I have long wanted to do a poetry picture book for kids in a large print format with full-color illustrations. The idea just kind of came to me after years of thinking about it!
I knew I wanted the main character to be a young girl and I wanted the overall feel to be “gently spiritual,” but one day it finally dawned on me that the illustrator I have worked with before was very good at painting birds, so why not make it about that? I then started researching the habits and characteristics of our feathered friends and it just clicked.
I wrote the whole thing pretty much over one week during Christmas Break and then over a year was spent fine-tuning the poem sections and waiting for the illustrations to be completed.
Deb: It seems like kids today don’t as readily notice things in nature like birds or the trees where they live. Do you have any suggestions for parents who’d like to help their children connect more closely with nature?
Daniel: A relatively easy thing to do is to hang a bird feeder near a window where you live so you can observe what creatures may visit it.
Chances are the local squirrels will raid it rather often, but you will also get to know the birds that reside in your area. You can keep a journal or take pictures of the birds on your device and then look them up on the internet to identify them!
I am also a big fan of public parks that have water features. Parks with water and trees tend to attract more wildlife than those with just grass and playground equipment.
Deb: Poetry is such a beautiful art form, but sometimes a bit too abstract for children to understand. After reading your children’s poems (which I think offer a perfect bridge!), what should parents and teachers do next to help their children better connect with and appreciate poetry?
Daniel: It’s so very important to help foster a love of poetry in young kids, the younger the better! I recently read a study that said if a child knows eight nursery rhymes by the time they are four years old, they’re usually among the best readers in their class by the time they reach age eight.
Unfortunately, the way poetry is often taught to teens in high school tends to destroy any early affection they may have had for verse.
Too often, poetry is treated by some teachers as a mysterious riddle or puzzle that has to be figured out. The focus is often on asking what does the poem really “mean” or what the author may have intended.
This approach is largely unhelpful in my opinion. It is much more interesting to look at how a poem is constructed in its use of language, meter, rhyme, imagery, metaphor, etc.
Luckily, there are still great children’s poets among us in addition to past masters like Shel Silverstein. One current poet I will give a shout out to is Robert Schechter, whose book The Red Ear Blows Its Nose was published in 2023 by Word Galaxy Press. Any parent whose child likes Silverstein will want to get a copy of Bob’s book, too.
Daniel’s debut reading of The Birdmad Girl at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Denver
Deb: Robyn Calzada did such a fantastic job of illustrating your poem! My daughter and I especially loved the squirrel’s reactions to each of the birds. Do you have any favorite illustrations or pages?
Daniel: Yes! She’s amazing isn’t she? I think the illustration of the hummingbird is particularly soft and lovely.
But I also share your daughter’s affection for the recurring character of the squirrel and his reactions to the various birds. That was brilliance on Robyn’s part, to make the squirrel a recurring character in the story.
Deb: I always research authors before interviewing them about their books and you had an especially fun background and journey to research! I learned that outside of being a poet, you’ve also been an actor, the lead singer/lyricist in indie rock band Mining for Rain, a community activist and organizer, and even a professed Brother in the Order of Saint Luke and ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church.
Daniel: Yeah, I’m old, lol. I’ve done a lot of stuff professionally, artistically, and otherwise, but for me: the poetry and the music are closely related and both bring me great, great joy.
I am actually working on two new music releases with my band now (an EP and a full-length album), and while there are challenges to collaboration like that, it is especially fulfilling given that poetry is usually a much more solitary and lonely art.
As you noted, I write the lyrics for my band’s original songs, so that is a practice very much like writing a good poem. But hearing those lyrics come to life with the music and then me getting to sing them? That’s still magic to me.
Deb: What’s your vision for the future of your writing? Do you have more books in the works? Or any upcoming projects you’re excited about?
Daniel: I have a new poetry chapbook manuscript being considered by a publisher right now…it will be my tenth book! I’m excited about it.
It is a collection of very short poems, many of them just four line quatrains, and the majority are funny/light verse, though not all. It is directed toward adults, but still very accessible I think to a general reading audience who aren’t sure if they like poetry or not.
Thanks so much for joining us today, Daniel!
You can follow Daniel’s journey on his website and enjoy his spoken word poetry album (which won an honorable mention in the 2024 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards in the Audiobook category!) on his bandcamp page.
Ready to pick up your own copy of The Birdmad Girl? Find it on Amazon or request your local bookstore or library to order a copy.
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