Inspiration strikes in the most curious of ways.

Our inspiration crept up unexpectedly in the midst of a very scary medical battle back in 2015. 

My husband was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. He underwent surgery to remove most of it but radiation was needed to ensure it was entirely gone. Once he recovered from the surgery, we were heading to the hospital every day for his eight weeks of treatments. 

On our drives to the hospital, we noticed a hawk sitting on a hydro pole. Adam and I love being creative and silly together.  We noted the hawk looked to be watching traffic almost like a stoic police officer. As days went on, he became an interesting topic for "what if" conversation, a welcome distraction. Dubbed "Officer Hawk", he quickly became the center of our entertaining story-line. After treatments were through, we happen to be driving past Officer Hawk's post with my two children in the car and made a reference to his story. They asked to hear the whole tale, they were intrigued and added their own spin on events.

New characters were created and the tales became more intricate.

As the years went on, Adam and I welcomed two more children into this world, they were also entranced by the stories. We spent hours window watching and playing outside among the wild critters. Noticing animals' funny tendencies instilled the ability to slow down and observe, it also fed the kids' imagination and curiosity. As a family, we would enjoy all sorts of sports and animals, books, games with friends, travel, adventure and the outdoors.

Suddenly, there was an unexpected pause. 

The entire world watched the 2020 pandemic unfold. As a way to cope with stress, we turned to our backyard animal friends for entertainment and distraction again. While we watched their interesting behaviours, we were brought back to the present moment, back to simple. While we couldn't actually see our human friends or family, we wanted to make something to brighten their day while constructively passing the time in ours... so we started drawing... and rhyming!

It was decided, as a family, to share our stories with everyone.

We've been learning (mostly on the fly) a creative process with many routes to the finished product. The drawings are simple and vibrant for younger readers to follow along. 

It took much discussion, writing and collaborating until all three books were complete. 

Which brings us to this moment...

We proudly present our Songbird Stories!