What Happened When Grief, Birds, and Feathers Became a Book That Comforts People

Beyond the Book with JoAnn Dickinson · Mar 10, 2026 · 33m

What starts as grief doesn’t always end the way you expect.

Author-illustrator Heather Boschke shares how returning to drawing during the pandemic, after nearly 30 years away, unexpectedly became a source of healing. What began as simple bird sketches led her back into nature, into birding, and ultimately into writing Little Birdie Buddies of Love, a children's and parents' book that has brought comfort to readers experiencing loss.

Heather opens up about feathers as symbols of presence, hope, and love, the emotional story that inspired this book, and how listening to those quiet “whispers”…