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Interview: Jacqueline Davies talks ‘The Boy Who Drew Birds’ book (Includes interview)

On her book The Boy Who Drew Birds, she said, “I love the illustrations in that book. Melissa Sweet did a great job. It is interesting. The idea did not come about as a biography. It started with the Phoebe birds. I was at an Audubon sanctuary with my daughter, who was young at the time, and we were walking down to the pond, to find what kind of wild-life was there, and as we were walking down, this little gray bird flew in my face, and Sally, the teacher, told me it was a Phoebe bird. She told us that they come back here every single year, and they nest in the same spot. She said ‘they fly south in Florida or further beyond and when they come back in the spring, they come back to the same nest.’ I thought it was lovely, due to their sense of loyalty in return. That’s what got me interested in writing that book.”

Davies continued, “I couldn’t figure out how to tell the story, and I played around with a lot of different ideas. I just kept researching, which is what I do with all of my books in the beginning. I came upon this tiny little footnote on a website, and a fun fact was they were the first birds to be banded in North America, and the first person that did the banding was John James Audubon. I thought ‘wow, there’s a hook that I hadn’t seen coming.’ I started researching him, and he is such a fascinating character. I have actually written three picture books in three stages of his life. The other two books have not been published yet.”

The author added, “Throughout his entire life, he was a very interesting character. He had a passion that very few people experience. I think you can call it an obsession: capturing birds [in his artwork] in their natural habitat and bringing them to people to see. He was very driven and very energetic and very funny. In addition to painting, he wrote every single day, so you have a lot of primary source material on him. His notes were scientific and observational.”

When asked what motivates her from day to day, she said, “I don’t need a lot of motivation, because I love to write. It’s not a chore for me. The hardest thing that keeps me from writing is the rest of life, since there are other things that need to get taken care of in a day. Writing is my treat, my pleasure and my reward for taking care of the other things in my life that require attention. I always look for the feeling of satisfaction with the writing job that I have done on the page. I have three kids and they are all getting older. They still take up parenting time, thought and energy.”

For aspiring writers, Davies concluded, “You have to read a lot and read widely and outside of your genre of interest. Explore, since that makes your repertoire as a writer grow. You need to write a lot and you need to practice. Same advice as with reading: go outside your comfort zone and push yourself in different areas.”

For more information on author Jacqueline Davies, check out her official website.

Markos Papadatos
Written By

Markos Papadatos is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for Music News. Papadatos is a Greek-American journalist and educator that has authored over 20,000 original articles over the past 18 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, entertainment, lifestyle, magic, and sports. He is a 16-time "Best of Long Island" winner, where for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), he was honored as the "Best Long Island Personality" in Arts & Entertainment, an honor that has gone to Billy Joel six times.

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