Calvin Huber is seven years old and lives in New York City. He loves nature and spends holidays hiking with his family. His favorite bird is the peregrine falcon. He loves to read and has ideas for stories he would like to write and publish. This is his first “real” book.
Tanya Accone has a soft spot for house sparrows, the most common bird in the world. She enjoyed editing Calvin’s story and illustrating the book using images Calvin and others had taken.
A few of the photos we took over the course of the weeks we watched the American Robin family.
During our monitoring of the American Robin family, we shot video footage that shows the family in different stages from newly hatched to fully fledged. Take a look.
Knowing that every dollar can make a difference, author Calvin Huber hopes that with its engaging narrative and beautifully illustrated, fact-filled pages, ‘Feathers on Fifth’ will raise a lot of funding for organizations that help wild birds. Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the NYC Audubon Society, Wild Bird Fund, environmental education at MCS and Calvin’s favorite charity, Habitat for Humanity NYC.
Like many seven year olds, Calvin Huber enjoys reading, being outdoors and screen time on his parents’ mobile phones. But unlike most children his age, he combined these interests to publish a book.
‘Feathers on Fifth’ recounts Calvin’s experience in observing an American Robin family that made its home on New York’s Fifth Avenue this past spring. The book tells the egg-to-fledge story of the robin family in their low holly bush nest. The reader accompanies the family through the real life-and-death challenges that predators and the weather presented.
Calvin’s interest in birds was encouraged at school, where every first grade class at Manhattan Country School undertakes a bird study. This involves hatching chicks, researching a bird of choice, field trips with rangers in Central Park and a visit from the Wild Bird Center. Seeing these bird conservation efforts made an impression on this young nature lover, who became determined to contribute.
In the midst of the bird study, a teacher noticed a robin’s nest a block from the school and took the students to visit it. Enchanted by this discovery, Calvin convinced his parents to let him visit the nest every day and document what was happening. Over the course of weeks, he took photos, recorded video and speculated as to why the robins chose to nest along a busy road when they had all of Central Park to choose from.
Having used a number of books about birds for his school study and to find out more about robins, Calvin was inspired to write his own book that combined facts with his experience, images and imagination. The words were written with lots of discussion and Calvin’s mom helped him use the photos he and others had taken to create the watercolor-styled illustrations.
‘Feathers on Fifth’ is available online through
Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble | Booksellers can contact us directly or order copies through Ingram
