A Warbler’s Journey: A Picture Book by Noted Naturalist Scott Weidensaul

“No one who reads this can remain unmoved by this tiny bird’s tenacity; this is sure to create avid new bird-watchers.” – Kirkus

Imagine a tiny bird “the color of a ripe lemon” who can fly 4,000 miles through storms and across a sea. This yellow warbler’s saga begins in the verdant rain forest, where she eats and eats in preparation for her long journey. At a coffee plantation in the hills of Nicaragua, a little girl sees the yellow warbler and learns from her abuelito that the lovely bird feeds on insects that harm the shade-grown coffee plants.

After sating her appetite, the yellow warbler ascends to begin her long journey. She soars day and night through intense weather and changing geography with occasional human assistance, compelled to return to her ancestral home, where her mate awaits. Will she endure?

With poetic language and science-based scenarios, Scott Weidensaul limns a dramatic vision of endurance in A Warbler’s Journey. He portrays the daunting gamut of biomes that the little bird traverses between Nicaragua and Canada’s Northwest Territories. Showing three ways humans can help migrating birds survive echoes the familiar picture book story arc of three situations for the hero, which helps make the story relatable. And three times the voices of the warbler and her mate sing out Sweet-sweet-sweet-you’re-so-sweet! adding a melodic element.

Lush oil paintings by Nancy Lane illustrate three-quarters of each double-page spread, showing varied habitats, perspectives, and times of day. The yellow warbler is sometimes prominent, while the bird is tiny on other spreads, posing can-you-find-her moments.

Scott Weidensaul’s experience working with Nancy Lane and Gryphon Press required a bit of negotiation, as he explained in an email:

“Interestingly, when we first approached her she wasn’t interested in doing another children’s book, because she had switched entirely to landscape and plein air painting. Exactly, we told her — the publishers and I didn’t want traditional children’s picture book art, but something much more painterly and immersive. She was also willing to work with me (something, as I expect you know, most book illustrators don’t like to do) which worked out well because we had very similar visions for what the art should look like.

“In this case, besides the technical help I was able to provide Nancy on things like tropical flowers and the comparative sizes of other birds like hummingbirds, we also pulled in other experts — a friend who owns a shade coffee farm in Nicaragua, a Black PhD ornithology student at LSU who was one of the founders of Black Birders Week, and a prominent community leader from Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation in the NWT, all to vet the content and especially Nancy’s sketches for sensitivity and accuracy. We were very aware that we were two very white people writing about and depicting people of color. Juita at LSU, for instance, had some gentle suggestions on how best to handle the Black grandmother’s hair, and Iris at Łutsel K’e made some changes to some of the family’s clothing. We both slept better for taking the extra step.

“In 2022 I had a chance to visit Thaidene Nëné National Park Reserve at Łutsel K’e and thank Iris personally (and deliver a crate of books for the community). It’s an astounding place, 6 million acres of their ancestral land designated a reserve at their behest, and managed by the community. Some of the most stunning scenery I’ve ever encountered in the North. That visit forms the core of the final chapter of my new book, Recovery Takes Flight, about bird conservation success stories, because Thaidene Nëné has sparked a huge movement of Indigenous communities across Canada creating Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. By the end of this decade, close to 1 billion acres of the Canadian boreal forest will be in some form of formal or pledged conservation. So that little warbler and a lot of other birds can rest much easier.”

On the cover is a quote from David Allen Sibley, the celebrated author/ illustrator of the renowned Sibley Guide to Birds, who says of A Warbler’s Journey, “This book is sure to inspire and inform readers of all ages.” A wonderful kudo for the book. A map on the title page traces the little yellow warbler’s journey from Central America to a lake in far northern Canada. It also indicates areas where yellow warblers summer, winter, live all year round, and which are areas they migrate through. Further information on a double-page spread concluding the book gives several specific actions readers can take to help warblers and other migratory birds.

 This compelling story will inspire children five years old and up to care about, and take steps to protect, yellow warblers and other migratory birds.  This love of birds can lead to greater sensitivity toward environmental stewardship, which benefits us all.

School Library Journal’s Birdie Booklist (A Warbler’s Journey is under ‘Books about children, birds and SEL skills’)

Kirkus review

Gryphon Press

A Warbler’s Journey, written by Scott Weidensaul and painted by Nancy Lane, 32 pages, copyright 2022, Gryphon Press, Edina, MN.

Note: On April 27, Scott Weidensaul and his wife Amy will offer a lecture for adults in Newburyport, MA.