Mr. Byrd and the sometimes wobbly feeling of meeting a new friend ...

 

The Love Song of Mr. Byrd by Philippa Dowding
Illustration: FRIEND © Caroline Clarke 2025

The Love Song of Mr. Byrd is now available! This is my 15th book for children, and my first chapter book for ages 6-9 (it's also a great all-ages read-aloud). It's a short, lyrical ballad to love and friendship between unlikely friends. It's also sweetly illustrated by Newfoundland artist Caroline Clarke. 

You can order a copy of Mr. Byrd now. Thank you to my publisher, DCB Young Readers!  

Enjoy Caroline's illustration above and a taste of chapter two, Friend, as Mr. Byrd experiences a wobbly start to his new friendship with Bat:

"Mr. Byrd came to the branch of the red maple tree the next night. He’d been looking for worms all day with little success. July was dry, and the worms were hidden deep in the cracked earth.

He looked over the fields.

“I wonder. I wonder if she’ll be back?”

The tree was at the end of the street, near a brick house that belonged to a large family. Children’s bicycles, soccer balls, and baseball gloves lay everywhere in the grass.

The sun was golden and low in the sky. It was almost twilight.

I’m sure she’s not coming, he thought a bit later, as he watched the sun sink lower. Then he puffed out his chest and looked down at himself. 

He didn’t even feel like singing, which was what he usually did at the end of the day.

He settled his feathers. The sun was sinking, but there was no Bat.

“Look at me. Why would any bat want to be my friend? It was silly of me to think that she would come. Who ever heard of a bat and a bird being friends?”

The more he thought about it, the more foolish he felt. He was nobody. Well, not nobody maybe, but really just a very small somebody in a very big world filled with creatures far more interesting and important than he was.

He was just Byrd, or even Mr. Byrd, according to Bat. But he wasn’t flashy ..." Text © Philippa Dowding 2025

Spoiler alert: Bat shows up! The friendship blossoms all summer until fall brings change, and for Mr. Byrd, the sweetest song of all. 

Readers may discover a gentle resonance with classics like The Wind in the Willows, Charlotte's Web, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Tao of Pooh, all the Franklin the Turtle books, and more of those books that you wish someone had read to you as a child. ENJOY! 

More about The Love Song of Mr. Byrd on this blog.

You're invited to review The Love Song of Mr. Byrd ...

 

"A red maple tree branch, a summer twilight, and an unlikely friendship

Governor General's Literary Award-winning author Philippa Dowding creates a charming new tale about an unlikely friendship between a bat and a bird." 

CALLING ALL REVIEWERS! 

To request a Digital Review Copy of The Love Song of Mr. Byrd, please contact DCB Young Readers.

What is it about? Love. Simply that. This gentle, lyrical ballad is about Bat and Mr. Byrd and their brief summer of deep friendship. They discover love, cats, family, dawn, fireflies, loss, joy, sorrow, and more. They're different, but not so different at all.

Here's the Press Release for more. 

I'll be adding lots more in the coming months, like the idea and experience behind writing this book (which I wrote on a boat), a Q & A about it, my thoughts on the lovely art, reviews, and more!

If you'd like to receive a review copy for The Love Song of Mr. Byrd, please contact the publisher, DCB Young Readers.

All posts on this blog about The Love Song of Mr. Byrd

Introducing The Love Song of Mr. Byrd

 

Introducing The Love Song of Mr. Byrd, coming October 2025 from DCB Young Readers! 

I'm truly delighted with this story, my latest and 15th book in almost as many years. I love the cover, too, Bat and Mr. Byrd are glorious. More to come soon about writing for children, my process, the inspiration for this book, a Question & Answer about Mr. Byrd and more.

From the Press Release:

A red maple tree branch, a summer twilight, and an unlikely friendship

Governor General's Literary Award-winning author Philippa Dowding creates a charming new tale about an unlikely friendship between a bat and a bird. 

The lyrical, atmospheric story unfolds as a naive and unsure morning bird meets a kind and worldly nocturnal bat. The two meet by chance at twilight, and over the course of one magical summer, they become friends.

ISBN  978-1-77086-808-3 | Paperback | Ages 7-9 | 96pp | $10.95 | Oct. 25, 2025 | DRCs Available

To request Media Copies, author interview and/or other content, and more, please contact DCB Young Readers.

As their friendship blossoms, they discover together the danger of cats, the beauty of fireflies, the meaning of loss, love, fun, joy, family, and more. They also learn compassion and empathy, and how to find common ground despite being so different from one another. 

This short and sweet 10-chapter narrative includes black and white illustrations from Caroline Clarke, who has been commissioned by the CBC, the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, Running the Goat Books & Broadsides, and elsewhere.

Philippa Dowding is an award-winning children’s author, poet, and musician living in Toronto, ON. Her 2021 novel, Firefly, won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature (Text), and the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award. Her other novels for children have been nominated for numerous literary awards, including the SYRCA Diamond Willow, OLA Silver Birch and Red Maple, Hackmatack, and White Raven awards."

More information to come about The Love Song of Mr. Byrd, including events, signings, a book launch, my writing process, inspiration, 5-questions answered, excerpts, and more. Welcome new book!