Mia and the Hummingbird by Nancy Carlisle | Review
A book blog tour from iRead Book Tours.
Thank you to the author, publisher, & Lauren at iRead for providing me the information for this tour. 
Book Details
Mia and the hummingbird by Nancy Carlisle Published by Sage Green Press on 03/15/2021
Genres: Animals, Education, Fiction, Children's, Enviromental, Family Life, Friendship
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 34
Mia and the Hummingbird is the story of a young girl who immigrates to a new country and learns to accept a new life.
She sees the hummingbird building her nest for her babies and thinks that she and the bird are similar as they learn to adapt to their new homes.
Mia and the Hummingbird includes information about environmental and social reasons for immigration, the struggle to adapt to a new home and information about hummingbirds. Included is a glossary about these issues, a bibliography, and references.
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Source: Amazon Purchase, iRead Book Tours, Kindle Unlimited, Received from the author or publisher for review.
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Purchase Links for Mia and the Hummingbird
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My thoughts on Mia and the Hummingbird
Mia and the Hummingbird is a fun book written in the style of The Magic School Bus, with lots of facts presented along with the story.
In this tale we learn about MIa who was forced to emigrate after a devastating storm damaged her country. Arriving in the United States, she must learn to adapt to a new home, school, friends, and language. She compares herself to the mother hummingbird she spies in a tree. The hummingbird perseveres through all obstacles to build a nest and raise her babies. Mia learns valuable lessons from the tiny hummingbird.
The facts are presented clearly and in just enough detail to satisfy the curiosity of young readers. The story itself teaches many important lessons about perseverance, resiliency, starting over, making friends, etc.
Topics that are presented for more discussion with parents and teachers are refugees, hurricanes, climate refugees, adaptation, the Caribbean, and social injustice. The author includes a glossary, bibliography, and references for more information.
Not only is this an entertaining story, but it provides helpful facts and opens conversations between children and adults.
I received a copy of the book for the tour. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion.
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About Nancy Carlisle
Nancy Carlisle is an author, illustrator and retired architect and manager. She writes hopeful books for kids that interweave facts and fiction about the environment and global responsibility. Her website is https://nancycarlislebooks.com
During her 38 year career, as an architect and researcher, her focus was on the environment. She led work nationally and internationally on sustainable and energy efficient buildings and communities and won awards for collaboratively designing award-winning sustainable buildings, a laboratory campus, and work with others to improve the energy efficiency of U.S. laboratories.
Her international experience on these projects led to her belief of the importance of language as the key to worldwide understanding. She brought her professional experience to work as a volunteer in the English as a Second Language Program at the Emily Griffith School in Denver, CO. She has also been a volunteer in the Greenhouse Scholars that mentors first generation college students and she is a strong advocate against plastic waste.
She enjoys the outdoors, both mountains and beaches, and international travel. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writer and Illustrators and the Society of Environmental Journalists. She continues to study Illustrating and French.
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Author Interview
1. What is your background?
Thanks for the opportunity to tell you a bit about myself. My career objective has always been about the environment. I studied economics, urban planning and was a licensed Architect. Prior to writing kids’ books, my 38-year career focused on the design of highly energy-efficient and passive solar buildings. (I live in a passive solar home that I designed with my husband in 1994).
During my career, I wrote many technical reports but only began writing children’s books when I retired. One of my hobbies is studying and illustrating plants. In Mia and the Hummingbird, there are lots of drawings of trees and plants. Book characters are new to me and more challenging.
2. What got you interested in the topic of learning a new language?
The international traveling that I did in my career piqued my interest in learning a second language. I worked with many people who spoke languages other than English. After retiring I worked as a volunteer teaching English as a second language.
Also, during the last 15 years, I worked as a mentor to kids, first through the Big Sisters, then with first-generation college students so I have gotten to know many students where English is not their first language. Also, I began studying French as an adult about 10 years ago and attending weekly classes or a conversation group.
3. What was the inspiration for the main character Mia?
The students that I’ve met through my mentoring inspired me because they are resilient like she is. They set goals, they are caring, they work hard, and persist to achieve their goals. They want to go to college or study a trade.
They often are very driven to make their parent proud because they know the sacrifices their parents made for their education, and they often want to be a good example for their brothers and sisters. Many of the students that I work with are the first in their families to attend college.
4. What makes your book stand out?
I love historical fiction because it includes both a story and factual information (often written as endnotes to the story). In my books, I wanted to present both a story and the facts behind the story for those kids who want more context.
My books follow a format like the one used in the “Magic School Bus” series with a main story plus facts. I think this format appeals to kids on multiple levels. Some kids just want to read the story, others love facts and more details. The facts give the parents more ideas to generate discussion or follow through.
The glossary adds another level of detail for kids\parents who want even more information and possibly a richer dialog about the story.
5. What do you think is the most interesting fact about hummingbirds?
The fact that I find most interesting is that the mother hummingbird uses spider silk in weaving the nest together so that the nest can expand as the baby birds grow.
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Giveaway!
Enter to win a signed copy of MIA AND THE HUMMINGBIRD and a $25 Amazon Gift Card! (one winner/USA only) (ends July 2)
MIA AND THE HUMMINGBIRD Book Tour Giveaway
Please visit more stops on the tour for extra chances to win!
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Purchase Mia and the Hummingbird online from a local book store.
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Mia and the HummingbirdShop on Amazon 
Mia and the HummingbirdShop on Amazon Mia and the HummingbirdShop on Amazon
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Similar reviews:
While Earth Still Speaks by Nancy Werking Poling
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This will be great to read with the kids! Thank you for sharing!
You are most welcome, Megan. Thanks for stopping by. I know my grandkids love it.
What a great topic for a children’s book!
Sounds like a good read
Just getting into kids books at age 53.
Easier and clearer life lessons than a 254 page “self help” book.
Sometime the media is the message. That message is the whole ideology of children’s books.