A fictional father and his daughter observe nestlings in this first children's book

Sometimes authors get ideas for their books from things that are right in front of them.

Roger McCord found inspiration under his porch.

McCord, 69, of Cumberland, has a nest under his porch that has been home to a family of phoebes, medium-sized insectivores. He was also a stay-at-home dad to his two children – a boy and a girl who are now adults – for about 10 years, so he has spent a lot of time looking at the world through his children’s eyes and helping them make sense of it.

His experiences and the nest under his porch helped him conceive and create his first children’s book, “Flight of the Phoebes” (Maine Authors Publishing), which was released in December. The 28-page book follows a father and daughter as they document the 16-day nest-and-flight cycle of the Maine phoebes.

The fictional father and his daughter Maya talk about birds, nature and life. McCord, a former editor at the Portland Press Herald and content producer for news website The Maine Monitor, uses his journalism background and graphic design skills to create photo illustrations of the Phoebes in action.

The daughter in the story, Maya, is a character drawn from McCord’s observations of his own daughter Hannah and his two great-nieces, Bianca and Anderson. The book includes a description of the Eastern Phoebe, which belongs to the genus Sayornis and is a flycatcher bird that often returns to the same nesting site year after year.

Maya and her father watch the baby birds being fed and growing up. They see their feathers growing. They talk about what the birds eat and that they will leave the nest when they are big enough, strong enough and smart enough. Just like children.

The book has educational elements. Readers learn about the birds and how they raise their young. At the same time, it is lyrical and poignant, especially in the conversations between father and daughter.

A page from “Flight of the Phoebes” Image courtesy of Roger McCord and Maine Authors Publishing

As the birds begin to leave the nest, Maya’s father sets up a camera on a stand nearby, and father and daughter watch as they fly away one by one until only one is left. After some encouragement from Maya, that bird flies off, too.

“Wow, that was great,” Maya said. “But now it’s like… I miss her already, you know?”

“I know what you mean,” her father said. “And one day, when you and Isaiah go off on your great adventures, I’ll miss you too.”

McCord said he got important advice while writing the book from his wife, Su Sepples, a vocational educator.

“She told me to say something nice to the kids because they were smart, and that was a real help to me,” McCord said.

McCord also used his video skills to document the phoebes under his porch for a 2022 post on the Maine Monitor website called “The Feeding Frenzy.” The video shows McCord setting up his camera and following the baby birds as they feed and grow before flying away, allowing families who read the book to see the phoebes in action.

For more information or to purchase the book, visit flightofthephoebes.com.