Chickadee nest inspires children's author
Carol Zelaya found inspiration for her series of children's books in her own back yard, but she had to move to get the complete message.
"Emily the Chickadee" germinated when Zelaya, a former Bloomingdale resident who lives in the Portland area, noticed a chickadee building a nest in her flower planter.
"They're normally cavity dwellers, which means they nest in places like logs or birdhouses, not in the open," said Zelaya. "Once she made her nest in the flower pot she did it again. I think she felt safe."
The chickadee let Zelaya watch her sit on the eggs then feed the baby birds.
"As an adult if I learned so much just by watching her every day, I thought perhaps young children could learn to appreciate nature close to where they live," said the author.
The next year either the chickadee came back or another one decided that Zelaya's flowers looked pretty good.
The budding author had an idea for two books. "Emily Waits for her Family" tells about watching the process without ever touching the nest, and "Caring for Emily's Family" explains that putting out feeders, bird baths and birdhouses helps keep feathered friends happy and close.
Through a long, involved process Zelaya found artist Kristin Metcalf and set up her own publishing company, Richlee, which is selling the books for just over $10 each on Amazon.com.
Metcalf's lush watercolor paintings depict the chickadees and the little girl who discovers them. The avid gardener also accurately portrays flowers like roses, sunflowers, geraniums, poppies, pansies and bleeding hearts, showing them blooming during the proper seasons.
An idea for a third volume eluded Zelaya until she and her husband, Antonio, moved to a new, more rural house.
"My husband opened the front door and called me there. 'You're not going to believe this.' And he wouldn't tell me what it was.
"We had an artificial wreath on the front door, and there was a real chickadee nest in it. That's all the inspiration I needed."
Zelaya, a Chicago native who traveled to the area recently to promote her books, is grateful to have the project to keep her busy because she lost her husband last fall to a heart attack.
A teacher who liked the books wrote a review for a publication called New York Teacher. Jane Herbst of Babylon, NY, praised the books for promoting the scientific observation techniques for youngsters in kindergarten and first grade. She also likes that students can become involved directly with the environment without interfering with plants or animals.
The simple poetry in the books has garnered some criticism, but Zelaya reminds us she worked hard to tell this story from a youngster's point of view.
She particularly wants children to visit her Web site, emilythechickadee.com, and see photos of just-hatched real baby chickadees.