I love being out in nature and watching animals be themselves. Today’s picture book captures that feeling with gentle grace.
Jennifer McGrath is an award-winning author whose books include Pugs Cause Traffic Jams, illustrated by Kathryn Durst; The Snow Knows, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon, winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award; and the middle grade book Chocolate River Rescue, winner of the Hackmatack Award. She lives in Hillsborough, New Brunswick, with her partner, two dogs and pony. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram, BlueSky, or Facebook.
THE PONY AND THE STARLING is a picture book set on a Canadian farm. A young girl notices her pony has a lone starling friend and worries for its well-being when the winter comes and it doesn’t follow its flock. Will the pony and starling’s friendship survive the seasons? This is a quiet story that hums with heart. The writing is downright poetic and the illustrations are beautifully soft and wispy in that way that only watercolor can capture (even if it’s digital!).
Welcome Jennifer!
Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey? How has that brought you to writing this picture book?
Jennifer: I was so fortunate to grow up in a home full of books and storytellers – stories have always been an integral part of my everyday life, and I’m so grateful for that. As a writer, almost all my stories begin from a sense of place, and the landscapes that I know and love. I feel most like myself when I am in nature and around animals – so those are the stories that come most easily, and feel the most authentic to me. I especially love picture books – they are such a marvelous, magical fusion of poetry and art. Picture book writing – and this is particularly true of The Pony and the Starling – is how I celebrate the places and people and animals that shaped me.
Me: I love this book so much and every single character, from the animals to the humans. What gave you the idea for this story?
Jennifer: Thank you! I’m so touched and happy to hear that! This story was inspired by my own grey pony, Fiona. Fiona was such a wonderful, gentle soul – a real-life storybook pony if ever there was one. And she really was befriended by a starling one summer. I watched them from the kitchen window. As the weeks turned into months, I realized I was witnessing something very special. The bird was always near-by – on the fence, or on the ground inside Fiona’s paddock. If the pony moved to a different part of the field, the starling would flutter after her. It would even hop along between her hooves while she grazed. I knew that this was a story I would write someday…but I didn’t know the shape of it yet. It would be several years before that seed of an idea blossomed into a book.
So, this story is about a pony and about a bird… but it is also about a dog, although not in an obvious way. Danny, my border collie, was my constant companion for over a decade. He was always with me when I went to the barn to feed, clean and brush Fiona. On lazy afternoons, we’d sit on front porch watching the sky and the birds – although Danny was more interested in the squirrels, if I’m being totally honest! Danny is in all my memories of Fiona from that time (the pony and the dog were good friends, too!) so it is fitting that that you’ll find him on most of the pages in this book as well.
Me: There is such a poetic quality in the text with some circular bits that just make it sing. I can’t imagine how much work went into making it this lovely. Please tell me that there were a lot of revisions to get to this state! Did the story evolve over time or was it a gift from the muse like this from the first draft?
Jennifer: The magic of stories is that the best ones feel like gifts. I would love to say I slaved over this text but really it felt more like clearing away a few weeds to reveal a flower that was already there, ready to bloom. I wrote The Pony and the Starling over the course of four or five days. I always start with way too many words – but I throw them all down on the page anyway just to see what’s there. Then I take a deep breath and just listen for the heartbeat of the story. Once I find it, it’s a case of gently pruning away the extra bits. Interestingly, there were almost no further changes during the editorial stage with the publisher. I think maybe a word or two, and some line and punctuation formatting. As writers, a lot of our job is about paying attention, and not getting in the way of the story that wants to be told.
Me: I love that and I love the rhythm of your book which is so subtle. I would definitely call this a quiet story and we’ve heard that they can be hard to sell. Did you have a hard time marketing this manuscript? Can you talk about this book’s journey to publication?
Jennifer: So my confession is: I’m not particularly good at the submission process. I send manuscripts out rarely and sparingly – often to only three or four publishing houses. I do NOT recommend this approach, by the way! This is my own personal quirk that I am working on. I simply have hard time hitting the ‘submit’ button. It’s been my enormous good fortune that my favourite stories all found wonderful homes fairly quickly, in spite of myself! I believed in this story, though, and never really doubted it would find a home. I think I sent this manuscript out to four publishers. I got a polite pass from one, and didn’t hear back from two. When Groundwood responded, I was beyond thrilled. It immediately felt like the right fit for this story.
Me: The illustrations by Kristina Jones are wonderful. They fit your story so perfectly! Any illustration surprises for you? Any favorites?
Jennifer: What an absolute joy it was to see this story brought to life by Kristina’s beautiful art! Not gonna lie – I shed a few tears when I saw them for the first time. That little graphic on the title page, of the girl on her bike with the border collie chasing joyfully after her, just undid me. Such a small thing yet so perfect. I’d have a hard time picking a favourite page or spread – they all speak to my heart. I think I gasped every time I turned to the next spread. As for surprises – it was Kristina’s portrayal of the mother. Because she looks JUST like my own mother at that age. I don’t know if I’ve even told Kristina that, actually! That’s some powerful story magic, right there.
Me: What is one thing that surprised you in writing this story?
Jennifer: I think it was the sense of peace I felt when I finished. It was written during a difficult time – during the second year of COVID – when I was feeling very sad. But the act of writing this book felt so healing, so comforting, and I felt so much lighter when it was done. I felt stronger, too. I felt like I had put a little bit of beauty back into a world that needed it. As creatives and storytellers, we should never underestimate the importance of that.
Me: Any advice for new picture book writers?
Jennifer: Listen for the story and try not to let ego get in the way. The story that wants to be told may not be the one you set out to tell. That’s okay. Pay attention, be flexible, and notice the little things.
That is excellent advice Jennifer. Thank you for stopping by my blog today.
Dear readers, this book is published today. It’s a gorgeous story of an unexpected animal friendship, nature and the seasons. It’s beautifully written and illustrated. Trust me when I say, you’re not going to want to miss this one.