The Picture Book Buzz

Rebecca E. Hirsch grew up in the western Pennsylvania countryside with fields, woods, streams, and a pond. She spent much of her childhood roaming the woods, climbing trees, catching crayfish, collecting frog eggs, and picking wild raspberries, blackberries, and huckleberries. She also loved to read, write, and draw. Now Rebecca lives in the mountains of Pennsylvania, where she and her husband raised their three kids. When she’s not writing, you can find her digging in her garden, tending her chickens, or roaming the woods with a sketchbook in hand.

Rebecca is the author of more than ninety books about science and nature for children and young adults. She is a scientist, writer, and educator who is dedicated to connecting kids to nature and helping them understand the world of scientific discovery. Her books have been NCTE Notable, Junior Library Guild, and Bank Street Best Books selections, and have won a Green Earth Book Award Honor and a Riverby Award for nature writing.

Collage of 8 of Rebecca's over 90 book covers.

Her books include A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants: Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds (2024), Rise to the Sky: How the World’s Tallest Trees Grow Up (2023), Sensational Senses: Amazing Ways Animals Perceive the World (2022), Night Creatures: Animals That Swoop, Crawl, and Creep while You Sleep (2021), Living Fossils: Survivors from Earth's Distant Past (2020), Where Have All the Bees Gone? Pollinators in Crisis (2020), When Plants Attack: Strange and Terrifying Plants (2019), and The Monarchs Are Missing: A Butterfly Mystery (2018).

Her newest nonfiction picture book, Wonder Wings: Guess Who’s Flying, was released on April 15th.

Welcome back, Rebecca.

Having written a number of nonfiction picture books, what is your research process? Did it change at all for Wonder Wings: Guess Who’s Flying?

Wonder Wings is a rhyming riddle book, so the process was a little different than usual. First, I had to limit myself to subjects that fit my iambic rhyme scheme. Once I had selected a subject for a riddle—honeybees, for example—I researched what made this particular set of wings special. For honeybees, I focused on the fact that the wings are small but can carry a heavy load of pollen. Next, I listed the possible words I could use to describe the wings (small, mighty, weighted, etc.), find rhyming pairs (weight/freight, for example), and go through the slow trial and error of writing the verse.

Oh my gosh does rhyming create a ton more research and work. What was your inspiration or spark of curiosity for Wonder Wings: Guess Who’s Flying?

Book cover - die-cut circles provide glimpses or hints at eight special wings. As chalk-like drawings on the outside hint at the wings owner.

I had been researching pollinators and had been playing with a riddle book format, but the riddle format never really worked for pollinators. Along the way, I realized I was fascinated by the diversity of things with wings. Bats and bees, hummingbirds and butterflies—their wings are all so unique! I decided to switch the focus of the riddle book, from pollinators to things with wings. I would describe the action of the wings and readers have to guess the owner of the wings.

It is a really fun premise. What was the hardest or most challenging aspect of researching and/or writing Wonder Wings: Guess Who’s Flying? Was there any research you couldn’t put into the book?

The most challenging part was teaching myself to write in rhyme! I had never done it before, and I had to figure it out as I went along. I wrote many bad verses along the way. I won't torture you with them!

Yes, there was a lot of research that didn't make it into the book. That's always the case with a nonfiction picture book. Picture books are so short, and it requires a lot of discipline to only include the best bits of research.

Now, I am even more impressed! How long did it take from the first draft to publication for Wonder Wings: Guess Who’s Flying? Was this similar to previous books?

I began drafting Wonder Wings in 2018, so it took seven years. That's on the long side for one of my picture books.

Wonder Wings took a while to write because I was teaching myself how to write in rhyme, and the process was slow. Once I had a completed manuscript, I decided I needed an agent. I did an agent search in 2021 and signed with Sarah Stephens, who had just started working at Red Fox Literary. The manuscript was out on submission for a full year, and then suddenly I had two editors interested at once. We ended up selling the manuscript to Abrams Kids. After that came the process of selecting an illustrator and giving Sally Soweol Han time to create the wonderful artwork.

Which if the readers didn't catch it meant that a number of the other books you've written and sold were done without an agent! Congrats on getting an agent! When you first saw Sally Soweol Han’s illustrations did anything surprise or amaze you? What is your favorite spread?

I really loved the children that Sally incorporates into the scenes. I adore the way she illustrates children and animals; they're so charming!

Internal spread - fifteen butterflys flying above four kids running in a field.

Text © Rebecca E. Hirsch, 2025. Image © Sally Soweol Han, 2025.

I'll point to the reveal spread for butterflies, with children chasing butterflies through a meadow, as one of my favorites. It's just joyful!

Wow, I love the diversity in the butterflies and the kids running the field far below. What was the most fun or fascinating part of writing Wonder Wings: Guess Who’s Flying?

I've discovered that I love writing in rhyme. And of course, learning about all the different things with wings and how they worked was an amazing process of discovery.

Is there something you’d like to share from your research which did not make it into the book or back matter?

One animal that did not make it into the final book was an albatross. These giant seabirds have the largest wings of any living animal, and they use their wings to cruise over the stormy ocean. Here's the verse I wrote:

Over cold and stormy seas,

wings can dip and soar with ease.

Mighty wings, ten feet across!

These wings are on an…

albatross!

I love the verse, but in the end we decided to cut it. We already had several other birds that would be more familiar to children. Ultimately, albatrosses got axed to make extra room for Sally Soweol Han's gorgeous art.

Poor albatrosses! But a worthwhile compromise. The art is stunning. Are there any projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?

I'm working on a follow-up book to Wonder Wings about animal feet. It's also illustrated by Sally Soweol Han. I can't wait to share that book with readers when it comes out next spring!

Intriguing! We will have to keep our eyes open for it. Last question, what animal or natural feature (place) do you want to learn more about? Why?

I would love to learn more about red foxes, which I think are beautiful, smart, and secretive.

Thank you, Rebecca for stopping by and sharing with us. It was wonderful to chat with you again.

Thank you, Maria! It's always a pleasure to talk with you!

For more information about Rebecca E. Hirsch, or to contact her:

Website: http://www.rebeccahirsch.com/

Newsletter: https://rebeccaehirsch.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccaehirsch/

Review of Wonder Wings: Guess Who’s Flying

A wonderful rhyming STEM picture book which combines stunning illustrations, science about wings, and a guessing game.

Wonder Wings: Guess Who’s Flying

Author: Rebecca E. Hirsch

Illustrator: Sally Soweol Han

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers (April 15, 2025)

Ages: 4-8

Themes:

Wings, nature, rhyming, riddles, and nonfiction.

Synopsis:

From the swooping bat to the buzzing honeybee, kids will delight in learning about the many wondrous wings of our world in this nonfiction picture book guessing game from critically acclaimed creators Rebecca E. Hirsch and Sally Soweol Han

Some wings make music, some wings move too fast to see, and some wings carry people all over the world. Can you guess who these wings belong to?

Learn about the wonderous world of wings through rhyming riddles that will encourage little readers to guess along with every page turn. From hummingbirds to pterosaurs, honeybees to maple seeds—each pair of wings is unique, and each gets its due in this delightful nonfiction picture book.

Opening lines:

Wings can soar and wings can skim.

Wings can hover, hum, and swim.

Small wings, big wings, near and far.

Can you guess whose wings these are?

What I loved about this book:

A diverse cast of kids explore the fascinating wings of some amazing animals, plants, and men's creations. Such as the honeybee, who manages to lift heavy, pollen laden bodies with four small wings. . .

Internal spread - three kids watch honeybees gather nectar wfrom flowers and fly back to their hive.

Using fun rhyming quatrains, Rebecca E. Hirsch creates a guessing game posing riddles for kids about all types of wings. Ones used for making music (Katydids), zipping about (hummingbirds or planes), or glistening like a jewel. Sally Soweol Han's gouache, watercolors, color pencils, and soft pastel illustrations are magical. Capturing the wonder of a kaleidoscope of butterflies, a colony of bats at twilight, and a sparkle of fireflies dancing across a starlit pond.

Internal spread -on the left a vhild sitting on a dock at night fishing, as dragonflies glint and sparkle across the water. On the right two kids play with paper boats in the pond.

Wings can circle ponds and pools.

They glint and gleam like sunlit jewels,

fast and fleet as they flash by.

These wings are on a . . .

DRAGONFLY!

It is amazing how much stem information Rebecca E. Hirsch packs into the first three lines of her wonderful AABB quatrains. "Wings can wear an oily sheen,/ a dab of grease that keeps them clean,/ sealed from water, mud, and muck." She brilliantly uses the final line as a refrain, "These wings are on a . . . " followed by a fun guessing page turn to highlight some expected, and unexpected, phenomenal wings.

The back matter offers more detailed scientific information on lift, wing curvature, anatomy, mechanics of different flight, and communication. As well as a great collection of sources on wings. This is a wonderful read-aloud picture book sure to entrance kids with the stunning images, fun riddles, and lyrical verses.

Resources:

make an origami dragonfly (or here), butterfly, bee, and penguin.

Photo collage of four of the 53 paper planes to make.

try making and flying some of these 53 paper airplanes. What did you discover about their wings length or shape which helped them each fly differently?