A Warbler’s Journey

By Scott Weidensaul; Illustrated by Nancy Lane

Book cover titled "A Warbler's Journey" featuring an illustration of a yellow warbler flying in front of a colorful sunset over a body of water, with a branch with green leaves in the foreground.

Warbler was named a favorite book of 2022 by NPR!

The warbler is helped along the way by three different children and families: a Nicaraguan family whose traditional shade coffee farm sustains migrant birds, an African-American family that creates a garden in their backyard on the gulf coast to provide food for her, and a family from The Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation in Canada who have preserved land for all animals.

The yellow warbler’s journey is one migration out of many millions, each a miracle of tenacity and survival. Her journey of great risks and challenges is made even harder today by human changes that have severely eroded these birds’ habitat. However, the end pages detail many actions, large and small, that people can take to ease the passage of these birds.

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Classroom Guide

  • Birds, Migration, Environment, Conservation, Wildlife

  • 32 Pages

  • Hardcover

  • 5-8 Years

  • 1st Grade - 3rd Grade

  • 0940719479

  • 9780940719477

A branch with pink and yellow flowers and a small yellow bird perched on it.
A yellow bird perched on a green leafy branch with some small pine trees in the background.
Colorful collage of animated dog and animal characters.

Awards & Honors

A circular logo with a world map in the center. The map shows continents and oceans, with two children kneeling and drawing or connecting lines across the globe. The text 'Skipping Stones' is at the top, and 'Honor Award' is at the bottom, encircling the globe.

2024 Skipping Stones Magazine Honor Book in the Nature and Ecology Books category

Silver medal with the engraving of a man with two children, surrounded by the inscription 'Riverby Award' and 'John Burooughs Association' with two stars.

Winner of the John Burroughs Association Riverby Award for Young Readers

Collage of various animated characters and animals from different shows and movies.

Reviews

  • BookList

    “In his first book for children, wildlife researcher and Pulitzer finalist Weidensaul describes the epic flight of a yellow warbler making its spring migration from Nicaragua to Canada’s Northwest Territories.

    His evocative language puts the reader in the warbler’s shoes, so to speak, bringing to life the twitchy instinct she feels to embark on an epic journey.

    Readers will delight in finding the small, yellow bird in every illustration, whether it’s amid the branches of a shaded coffee farm, above a moonlit ocean, or resting in a backyard garden.

    There is also a lovely incorporation of racial diversity in the few instances where people appear: Nicaraguan farmers, a Black grandmother and grandson, and a Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation family. The appended spread titled “Easy Ways for Everyone to Help Warblers (and All Migrating Birds)” provides extra details about the yellow warbler’s migratory route, followed by bulleted tips on keeping migratory birds safe and healthy.

    An awesome account of an awe-inspiring feat.”

  • Kirkus Reviews

    “The story of one bird’s nearly 4,000-mile migratory journey…No one who reads this can remain unmoved by this tiny bird’s tenacity; this is sure to create avid new bird-watchers.”

  • Mary Ann Grossman (St. Paul Pioneer PRess)

    “A Warbler’s Journey is a lyrical prose poem that’s a joy to read…Not only does this book tell a sweet story of the migration of one bird among many millions, it also shows that wildlife can connect children across thousands of miles.”

  • J. Drew Lanham (Author of "The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature" and "Sparrow Envy: Field Guide to Birds and Lesser Beasts")

    “Want to witness a superhero at work? Then watch a warbler! Scott Weidensaul helps us to become a bird on a heroic journey, joining two worlds, from the Central American tropics to the Arctic tundra, across dark watery gulfs and thousands of miles.

    In A Warbler's Journey, we learn how bird lovers can help feathered heroes keep flying."

  • Powell's Bookstore

    “A spectacularly illustrated, factually accurate story of a tiny yellow warbler’s migration journey as she flies thousands of miles to reach her mate. In her dazzling oil paintings, Nancy Lane creates stunning landscapes and people that illuminate Pulitzer-prize finalist Scott Weidensaul’s poetic and detailed description of the warbler’s perilous journey from the tropics of Central America to the Canadian tundra. Together, they engage the reader’s interest in a story that conveys a deep sense of the wonder and the danger of the migration journey.”

  • David Sibley (Author of "The Sibley Guide to Birds," "What it Means to be a Bird," and many others)

    "With its engaging story and richly detailed illustrations of one yellow warbler's epic spring migration, this book is sure to inspire and inform readers of all ages."

  • Phillip Hoose (Author of "The Race to Save the Lord God Bird," "Hey, Little Ant," and more)

    “Weidensaul’s poetic and inspirational language gracefully draws the reader into the warbler’s amazing journey. Nancy Lane’s vivid oil paintings joyfully illuminate the text.”

  • Marcela Davison Aviles (Book Critic and Producer of TomKat Media)

    “If tragedy is the grim excavator of beauty, the era of our pandemic shutdown exemplified that. Bird song rose when noise levels from traffic, airplanes and even barking dogs plummeted. Bird-watching boomed. The world stopped, and birds and people noticed each other. A new book for children and adults by Scott Weidensaul, with gorgeous illustrations by Nancy Lane, is an epic story of a warbler’s resilient migration told through the eyes of two little girls. The story of its adventure is smart, beautiful and a reminder of what’s possible when we notice what we have in common with a tiny bird. (For ages 5 to 8)”

Colorful painting of a lush forest scene with various flowers, leaves, and small birds, including a yellow bird, a blue bird, and a red bird, among vibrant pink, red, yellow, and blue flowers with scattered butterflies.
A painting of an elderly man and a young girl sitting on a forest trail surrounded by lush green foliage and coffee plants. The man has gray hair and wears a wide-brimmed hat and a yellow shirt, smiling as he talks to the girl. She has long dark hair
Painting of a beach at sunset with a colorful sky filled with pink, purple, and orange clouds, birds flying above the water, and waves gently crashing onto the shore.
A painting of a night sky filled with colorful stars and cosmic dust above a calm, reflective body of water, with many small birds flying across the sky.
An elderly woman with gray curly hair and a young girl planting flowers in a garden next to a pond with pink flowers and trees.
Aerial view of a large, wide lake with green forested shoreline, some small islands, and distant mountains, painted in bright colors.
A girl walking with her parents along a lakeside trail, holding hands with her mother and father. A large green tree with small yellow birds is near the water's edge, and the lake reflects the surrounding scenery.
A peaceful landscape featuring a sunset over a lake with mountains in the background, tall pine trees, green shrubs, and a small yellow warbler perched on a branch in the foreground.