When SPARROW Landed
Why you never give up.
A package arrived recently, containing a children’s book I never expected to see. The book, written by a friend, has been on my radar for years. But when nothing happened, and nothing happened, and years went by and nothing else happened, finally a person quits expecting something.
So I was gobsmacked when Sparrow by Mary Tebo was inside the package.
Mary and I both lived in Tallahassee in the 1980s and 90s. I had gone to undergrad at Florida State, made a lot of friends, and stayed until I left for graduate school in 1995. Mary had, at the age of thirteen, moved with her family to Tallahassee, where she went on to get an English degree from Florida State.
She and I both belonged to the same writing group, Hungry Mothers. We were two of the four naturalists/nature writers.
Mary married well-known ecologist Dan Simberloff, and she followed his career to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We stayed in touch, and one day she sent me a manuscript for a children’s book.
“Holy cow,” I said. “This is great. I have a friend who’s a literary agent for children’s books. May I introduce you?”
The story I loved so much had originated during a visit to Jerusalem in 2005.
“We visited the Western Wall with a large group of relatives,” Mary wrote me, “including my mother, who wanted to write a prayer for us to fold and place in a crack in the wall, as is the custom. Her prayer was long and thoughtful, and my younger daughter kept looking at a high point in the wall, tracking something around the plaza, and then following it back up to the same high point in the wall. I finally realized she was watching a bird, a sparrow, that would fly around and then disappear into the wall. That was the seed for the idea that grew into the book that is Sparrow.”
As Mary says, “Sparrow is a story of a bird who counts on the Old City of Jerusalem to supply all her needs, even when she is expecting the unexpected.”
My friend Jeff Dwyer, who along with his wife Elizabeth O’Grady has represented writers and illustrators of children books since 1982, contracted with Mary to represent her book. Jeff worked with the illustrator Earl Lewis, known to his friends as E.B., and E.B. agreed to do the illustrations.
(Both Jeff and Elizabeth are now retired.)
A Long Timeline
Nov. 2010—I referred Mary to Jeff in November 2010.
2011—Mary accompanied E.B. to Jerusalem, and he began to create the art.
Years passed and nothing happened.
2019—I wrote Mary an email and asked what was going on with her book. “Nothing,” she said. “It didn’t sell and it’s dead.”
Early 2021— Jeff was chatting with Earl and suggested that he show the dummy of Sparrow to an editor at BMK Publishers, with whom Earl was working. BMK made an offer. Ten years after Jeff signed the book he sold it. Rebecca Davis, then editor, got in touch with me.
“It's a beautiful, hopeful story,” she said, “and I feel very lucky to be publishing it.”
I replied, “I couldn’t believe it when things got snarled up with Mary’s story. It’s truly a beautiful story and will make a hopeful, powerful book.”
Rebecca wrote back.
Publishing is a crazy field. But I've learned to never give up; when I was at Simon & Schuster many years ago and a promising manuscript came in and didn't make it past the acquisitions committee, I'd sometimes ask for a revision (only asking for things that I genuinely thought would make it better). By the time the revision arrived, often the sales and marketing folks who'd stood in the way had changed (editors stay put more than sales and marketing people do). With new faces in the acquisitions meeting and a stronger manuscript, often I'd then be able to sign it up. I know that Jeff sent Sparrow around to a lot of publishers when he was first trying to find a home for it. I'm sorry that it's had such a long journey! But I fell in love with it the instant I read it, and in fact everyone here adores it. And we're in a time when our world is desperately in need of hope. Maybe the story will find more readers now because it is both beautiful and needed? I thank you for your part in its journey.
My part was small, a quick introduction of two people I admire.
A Few Amazon Reviews
★ Maybe every kid needs a moving story about hope... Beautiful watercolor illustrations, ranging from earth tones that reflect the city of Jerusalem to the beautiful, vibrant colors of hope towards the end, help to capture the emotional journey of the sparrow and the life in the bleak landscape to the amazing discovery and change with hope for the future. Excellent back matter provides fascinating facts about the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where Sparrow lives, explaining its history spanning 2,000 years, its significance to multiple faiths, and the tradition of placing paper prayers in its cracks, giving great information to older readers and to teachers that expands the knowledge and understanding of this book.
—School Library Journal, starred review
Today is different for Sparrow, who knows that “something is going to happen.” To prepare, she journeys through the city seeking food and nesting materials. Watercolors by Lewis (Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem)—balancing the spontaneity of field sketches with polished landscapes—capture the play of her feathers against sunlight and ancient stones. Finally, Sparrow discovers what the nest needs: prayer notes, paper wishes that worshippers have tucked into the Wall’s crevices. When Sparrow’s egg arrives (“so big, she can hardly believe she had carried it inside for so long”), it touchingly mirrors the prayers as an expression of hope in the world.
—Publishers Weekly
This tender tale is a perfect antidote for anxious times, with its quiet optimism and soothing text. Stunning watercolor illustrations appealingly portray intimate interiors, everyday occurrences, and sweeping views of Jerusalem... A poignant portrayal of a small life in a big city and the hope that resides in them both.
—Booklist
This ode to renewal and quiet faith is both a glimpse into life's sacred moments and a tender meditation on motherhood and hope, exploring the unseen forces that guide even the smallest lives toward something greater.
—The Horn Book
Flash Interview with Mary Tebo
Janisse—This is your debut book, but I know you write for adults as well. Did you purposefully decide to become a children’s book author?
Mary—I wanted to be any kind of author. My writing lends itself to children’s literature. It’s sparse, more like poetry. And I love children’s books.
Janisse—What did books mean to you as a child?
Mary—At one point in my life, I lost a lot of relatives. When I did, I read Nancy Drew books over and over. Something about the formula is incredibly reassuring. There is a reality that stays the same, no matter what.
Janisse—What other books?
Mary—A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. Blueberries for Sal. Goodnight Moon. All the Childcraft series. I shared these with my own children. That now seems like a golden period of children’s literature.
Janisse—Will you talk about children and reading in the age of the screen?
Mary—I’m really impressed with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, providing a book every month to families. I think it’s a big deal. Reading a book is so different than looking at something on a screen. Children can carry the book around. There’s just something about holding it, smelling it, fondling it.
Janisse—What has publishing been like? Sparrow took a long time to come out.
Mary—Like a shot in the dark. A moon shot. So much luck goes into getting published. Publishing is a monolith I do not understand at all.
Janisse—That is depressing, that so much of publishing is luck and the chance of it actually happening is poor.
Mary—I may be wrong. Maybe I just don’t understand the technical, practical steps to achieving a dream. I was just lucky.
Janisse—You aren’t just lucky. You had a really great book. The story was very powerful.
Mary—Thanks, Janisse. I don’t know that people want powerful. I always thought children should get the straight story, without being grisly. I feel as if I owe them the truth, as I know it.
Janisse—Do you have other manuscripts ready?
Mary—Yes. I have a few more. I have sent one of them to my editor.
Janisse—Mary, I thank you so much. Congratulations on your new book!
Mary—Thank you, Janisse.
Need a Children’s Book Author?
Mary Tebo is available in the general area of Knoxville, Tennessee to read her book, discuss it, and/or talk about getting it out into the world. She will read to schools, libraries, classrooms, church groups, and nature camps. Please contact her via Substack Notes @gadwall.
Children’s Literature x 3
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If you are interested in indie-publishing children’s books, I highly recommend an interview that Joanna Penn conducted with author Darcy Pattison. This episode, “Writing, Publishing, and Marketing Children’s Books,” dropped on Monday.
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Darcy Pattison started out publishing children’s literature with traditional presses. At some point she switched to indie. She is running a Kickstarter to launch a book about it, Publish: Surprising Success Self-Publishing Your Children’s Book. I funded the project in order to receive a copy of her paperback for my personal library.
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Check out artist Rosalie Haizlett’s Substack post about attending a picture book writing workshop at Milkwood Farm in the Catskill Mountains of New York. I want to go to Milkwood!
🌀 Stay in the spiral! 🌀
If you find yourself spiraling down into negative thoughts about your writing and your writing life, focus on what is going well and what you already have.
Janisse--what can I say? You're always ready with the spiritual writerly pick-me up! Your many books and this substack have rejuvenated me many times. Thank you! With love from Mary Tebo, aka Dawn Chorus.
What a great tip — editors stay put more than marketing people do. New faces at the table and a stronger manuscript. Thanks for this marvelous look at book publishing, Janisse!
Congratulations, Mary👍🏽🫶🏼