Hatching a Book: The Story Behind Considering Sparrows

Here in the southern U.S., we’re heading into the winter birding season. Admittedly, winters are a slow time for birding; a good portion of the bird pizazz has migrated south, and birders are left to count scads and scads of White-Throated Sparrows and maybe scrounge retention ponds hoping for a duck or two.  But just because it’s a slow season for birding doesn’t mean there’s not a ton of bird activity… somewhere else. In places like Mexico and Venezuela, I assume the joint is jumpin’.

This past winter I was a little less active than usual on my blog, with longer gaps between posts. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a ton of activity going on… somewhere else. Over the past months I’ve been hard at work with a stellar team of people to hatch an ornitheology-themed book we’re calling Considering Sparrows: What Birds Teach Us About Who We Are, Where We’re Going, and the Joy of Following Jesus.

Let me tell ya about it.

The project: 

Basically, I’ve written my way through the book of Philippians “in bird.” I wanted to package my usual random bird musings into something more anchored and methodical, camping out in a specific section of Scripture and writing my way through it a passage at a time, complete with pastoral application and whimsical bird-mindedness. I hope this book will help the reader better understand the content of this amazing letter — probably my favorite book of the Bible — and at the same time “consider the birds” as living examples of the content within. That’s involved over two hundred pages of fun content about ravens, sparrows, albatrosses, vultures, penguins, hummingbirds, eagles, parrots, scrub jays, ducks, terns, treecreepers, Australian bowerbirds, African honeyguides, Chilean torrent ducks, and plenty more. I’ve got every continent covered. And it’s divided into sixteen chapters that consider Philippians one section at a time, just like a preaching series. Think of it as expository birdwatching.

The backstory: 

I started noodling around with this larger project back in the summer of 2023, with the loose hope of a potential book, but with the fallback plan — if all else failed — of a series for the blog. I didn’t tell much of anyone about the project, because hey, the eventual disappointment would go down easier that way. But then along came the amazing (any word I put here is an understatement) Joni Eareckson Tada, who has been a reader of Ornitheology, and who offered to connect me with her literary agent Andrew Wolgemuth. When Andrew (equally understatedly amazing) expressed optimism about the project, the ball really started rolling.

The publisher: 

I’m ecstatic, euphoric, yea exultant [“ChatGPT, what are some synonyms for thrilled?”] to partner with Penguin Random House for this project. Of course, there’s the obvious good fortune of working with a publisher that has a bird in its name. More than that, the editor I’m working with, Will Parker Anderson (equally equally understatedly amazing) really “gets” this project, and is scary in his ability to fill our e-mail correspondence with cheesy bird puns. The specific imprint of PRH I get to work with is Waterbrook and Multnomah, which has recently hatched projects (see what I did there, Will?) by folks like John Mark Comer, Tim Tebow, Rich Villodas, Jennie Allen, and the beautiful hardcover reprint of Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga. And speaking of Petersons…

The illustrator: 

A bird book without illustrations would be a sad book indeed, and I’m thrilled (did I say that already?) that I got to work with Aedan Peterson to give these chapters some visual thoughtfulness. Aedan has provided vivid artwork for everything from Pembrick’s Creaturepedia to The Tree Street Kids to The Story of God Our Savior to the cover of Christianity Today. Oh, and he’s an avid birdwatcher. Having Aedan on board for this book was beyond anything I could have dreamt up, and each of his illustrations captures both the bird and the biblical analogies of the chapter. Brilliant.

The timeline: 

Considering Sparrows will release March 24, 2026. Spring is a great time for grabbing those binoculars and filling those feeders, and wouldn’t it also be the perfect time for buying a book about birds? You can pre-order the book now, wherever you prefer to get your books.

This project has been such a joy to put together, but especially so because of the team that assembled to make it happen. Andrew, Will, Aedan, and I (and many others at PRH lending their talents to this project) look forward to helping you “consider the birds” in 2026!

Pre-Order the Book Here!