“I’ve spent the past few months on an octopus kick. In that, I don’t seem to be alone,” says journalist Ezra Klein. “Octopuses (it’s incorrect to say “octopi,” to my despair) are having a moment: There are award-winning books, documentaries and even science fiction about them. I suspect it’s the same hunger that leaves many of us yearning to know aliens: How do radically different minds work? What is it like to be a truly different being living in a similar world? The flying objects above remain unidentified. But the incomprehensible objects below do not. We are starting to be smart enough to ask the question: How smart are octopuses? And what are their lives like?”

So he talked Sy about her “dazzling book,” The Soul of an Octopus.

His talk with Sy “was a joy.” She “writes and speaks with an appropriate sense of wonder about the world around us and the other animals that inhabit it. This is a conversation about octopuses, of course, but it’s also about us: our minds, our relationship with the natural world, what we see and what we’ve learned to stop seeing. It will leave you looking at the water — and maybe at yourself — differently.”

Listen to The Ezra Klein Show on Apple, Spotify or Google or wherever you get your podcasts. A full transcript of their conversation is available on The New York Times website.

Online Event – Peter Wohlleben and Sy Montgomery in conversation about trees

Monday, July 12 at 2:00 pm. Join Sy Montgomery and bestselling author Peter Wohlleben for an uplifting conversation about the natural world, in celebration of Wohlleben’s new book The Heartbeat of Trees. Wohlleben. the author of The Hidden Life of Trees, returns to his favorite subject—trees—in this powerful, timely new book. Click the link above for your Zoom connection.

The lyrical film makers at the Salt Project have caught the magic of hummingbirds in a new short video featuring Sy. Watch it on Facebook, or on Vimeo, or YouTube.

After reading The Soul of an Octopus, Penny Howe wrote a song, My Octopal:

Long before the dinosaurs were ever born,

The very first octopus faced its first dawn.

At first with a shell that it very soon shed,

Still millions of years before the first biped.

With a beak like a bird,

A bite like a snake,

And ink like an old fashioned pen.

It can sneak like a fox,

And walk like an ape.

But what more could you want in a friend.

So if you feel blue,

If you’re feeling down,

There’s nothing like an octopus

To help you come round.

A hug from this pod,

Will work like a charm.

When you feel all the love

In three hearts and eight arms.

The writer Annie Graves has written a warm and appreciative portrait of Sy and her world for Yankee magazine. Read her story here.

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Sy was asked to share some life lessons with the good folks at World Class Performer.

What is something you wish you would’ve realized earlier in your life?

I wish I could go back to my childhood and youth and tell that desperate, young person “one day, you will live your dreams, and wake up every morning crazy in love with life.”

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” If you are kind and thoughtful, if you work hard and give back, not only will you accumulate knowledge and skill–but also genuine friends who will help you. Both are essential.

Read more of the short interview here.

Sy enjoyed her visit to the Townsend, Massachusetts, library where they created this lovely story walk for Becoming a Good Creature.

Here’s Sy reading The Hummingbird’s Gift at one of the best bookstores around, Gibson’s in Concord, New Hampshire.

My animal teachers. Betsy Groban interviewed Sy about Becoming a Good Creature for the Boston Globe:

Q: You assert in the book that animals can be great teachers for kids. Can you say more about that?

A: Humans have been important in my life — I even married one. But animals, too, have been essential as friends, mentors, teachers, inspiration. My first dog, Molly, showed me what I wanted to do with my life: learn the secrets of animals. Three emus showed me the path to do so: to follow wild animals wherever they were, and tell their stories. A pig showed me that family is not made out of genes, but love. An ermine taught me forgiveness. This doesn’t mean that humans don’t make good teachers, but it’s great to reassure both kids and grownups that teachers are everywhere, not just in the classroom, and they don’t all have two legs and opposable thumbs.

AudioFile likes Sy’s reading of The Hummingbird’s Gift for the audio-book: “Montgomery’s warm and intimate delivery makes listeners care about each development and setback. And her descriptions of these tiny marvels will almost certainly inspire you to step outside and observe the natural world with a new appreciation.”

And you can watch Sy talking about the new hummingbird book here. Thurber is also here to help.

Hummingbirds Coast to Coast. The Hummingbird’s Gift has debuted at number nine on the hardcover nonfiction bestseller list of the New England Independent Booksellers Association. And the new book is Number 4 on the Sonoma-Index’s Nonfiction Hardcover Bestseller List.

Hovering at the Edge of the Possible. On her Brainpickings website Maria Popova has written a paean to humming birds: “Between Science and Magic: How Hummingbirds Hover at the Edge of the Possible. How a tiny creature faster than the Space Shuttle balances the impossible equation of extreme fragility and superhuman strength.”

Her focus is Sy’s new hummingbird book. Maria Popova writes:

“We have The Hummingbirds’ Gift to widen us with wonder at the seeming impossibility of these fragile, fierce marvels of nature — and to render us wondersmitten with the hope that if individual humans are capable of bring individual hummingbirds back to life from the brink of death, then perhaps our entire species is capable of rehabilitating an entire planet; perhaps we are capable of a great deal more care and tenderness than we realize toward the myriad marvelous creatures with whom we share the ultimate cosmic miracle of life, this staggering improbability that is — somehow, somehow — possible.”

Read the rest of the post and see some beautiful hummingbird art here.

The Hummingbird’s Gift has taken flight. In the photo, Sy is signing books at the fabulous Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, New Hampshire. She also shows off a hummingbird’s nest with two navy beans standing in for the diminutive eggs.

First reviews:

“Montgomery has written another engaging work of popular science, similar to her previous books,” says Library Journal.

“Zippy as its titular bird,” says the Associated Press, and “quite fascinating.”

“Montgomery’s bright, richly illustrated chronicle stirs renewed appreciation for human empathy, skill, and wonder and a miraculous winged species,” says Booklist.

The Washington Post suggests it as a “feel good book to brighten your summer: Ah, to be able to fly far, far away. The hummingbird — an inspiring creature — can do that and more. It’s the lightest bird in the sky, able to fly backward and beat its wings more than 60 times a second. This slim book, centered on two abandoned hummingbirds who are nurtured back to health, is ideal for garden reading.”

Barnes and Noble’s “Most Anticipated New Book Releases of May 2021” looks forward to Sy’s new book, The Hummingbird’s Gift:

“In each of her books, Sy Montgomery has introduced adults and children to the complicated, intelligent spirits of our fellow creatures in the natural world, be it an octopus, a good, good pig, pink dolphins, or golden moon bears. This tale of an intervention to save the lives of two orphaned, nearly microscopic hummingbird babies is a rumination on fragility and interdependence, and an extraordinary close-up on the wonder that is a hummingbird. ‘Hummingbirds are less flesh than fairies … little more than bubbles fringed with iridescent feathers — air wrapped in light.’”

Portrait of the young writer as a toddler. Sy was interviewed by Onlypicturebooks.com. She told them:

“I don’t even remember this, but my parents told me: When I was younger than two, my parents took me to the Frankfurt Zoo, in Germany — where I was born – not in the zoo, but in the city of the Frankfurt! I broke free of my parents’ hands for a few moments and disappeared. When they found me, I had toddled into the hippo pen — right next to a 3,000-pound hippo, considered the most dangerous animal in Africa.”

“My parents weren’t happy, but clearly, both the hippos and I were fine about it. I always felt comfortable with animals—far more so than with most people.”

Read the rest of the interview here.

Kudos for Condor Comeback, winner of a Green Earth Honor Award. Check out the whole flock of winners here.

Sy enjoyed her visit via Zoom to the Chelmsford Library in Massachusetts for their All-Community read of How to be a Good Creature.

What better place to read about octopuses than while in the water? My book is in great company in the bathtub with author Chris Bohjalian, as he told the New York Times Book Review:

Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).

I can read for hours in the bath. In the winter, when the sun sets early, it’s pretty close to heaven to read there on a Sunday afternoon and watch the sun disappear over the small mountain west of where I live. I also loved to read in swimming pools, pre-Covid, when vacations were a thing. I’d stand waist-deep in the water, the book open flat on the coralline lip of the pool.

What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?

From Sy Montgomery’s lovely The Soul of an Octopus: An octopus would make a terrible pet, but not because they’re dangerous. Rather, they’re playful and smart and usually gentle with humans, but they’re likely to get themselves into trouble slithering out of their tank.

After reading her book, I went to the New England Aquarium just to watch them.

First Review. Booklist loves Sy’s new book, The Hummingbirds’ Gift: Wonder, Beauty, and Renewal on Wing:

“Hummingbird rehabilitator Brenda Sherburn Labelle and two tiny orphans, Maya and Zuni, first appeared in passionate, prolific, and beloved naturalist Montgomery’s world-circling avian chronicle, Birdology (2010). Here she tells the entire tale of the hummers’ rescue and thriving, thanks to rigorous human attention involving feedings with a syringe every 20 minutes, nerve wracking treatments for a mite infestation, and clever ways to help them learn to fly.”

“Montgomery shares an array of astounding facts about hummingbirds, from their proportionately enormous heart to how each day these little beings sup from 1,500 flowers and eat approximately 700 insects; how their wings beat 60 times per second; how they can hover, a unique ability; and how very combative and strong these little feathered marvels are, enduring long migrations year after year. Montgomery describes Maya and Zuni’s “remarkably expressive” little faces and different rates of development, and describes the fear and joy attendant upon their release into a world in which pollinators are severely imperiled.”

“Montgomery’s bright, richly illustrated chronicle stirs renewed appreciation for human empathy, skill, and wonder and a miraculous winged species.”

The Pima County Library in Tucson, Arizona, suggests that you spend National Pet Day – April 11 – or any day really, with A Good, Good Pig.

Inspired by Becoming a Good Creature, the young writers of the Pierce School in Bennington, New Hampshire, created books of their own. Sy can’t wait to zoom with them, author-to-authors, and tell them how proud she is of their work. Above are two samples.

The new German translation of How to be a Good Creature. In translation “good creature” may have become “mensch”– a good, honorable person. Hmm.

If you happen to tune into New Hampshire Public Television you may catch Sy talking about Becoming a Good Creature. This brief film — 1 minute, 30 seconds — is running between programs. Watch it here.

Hometown Vulture. Condor Comeback is in the Santa Barbara News-Press, the hometown paper for the project which is restoring condors to the wild. Dr. Estelle Sandhaus, the Santa Barbara Zoo’s director of conservation and science, is in charge of the condor project. She stars in Condor Comeback.

Seacoast Bark. What dogs “in the know” are reading right now! (This issue featuring you-know-who and his person.)

Lone Star Octo. Sy was interviewed by Jim McKeown for his show Likely Stories on KWBU, “Heart of Texas Public Radio.” Jim gives The Soul of an Octopus “8 tentacles” (out of 8, we assume). Listen here.

A big thank you to the good folks at The Arts Fuse, a fabulous online guide to the arts in New England, for featuring How to be a Good Creature in its March edition. Read the other excellent recommendations here.

A Double Honor. The nonfiction committee of the Missouri Association of School Librarians has chosen two of Sy’s books for their lists of top twenty best nonfiction books. Condor Comeback is on the list for grades 3 to 5, and The Magnificent Migration is on the list for 6th to 8th graders.

The Dutch translation of The Soul of an Octopus has been published in the Netherlands.

Researching her next book, Sy visits with her buddy Fire Chief, a snapping turtle who is in rehab at a turtle hospital. “Fire Chief looks as big as a dinosaur, but he’s gentle as a puppy,” says Sy. “Here we are at Turtle Rescue League doing physical therapy to help strengthen his legs. He was injured when a truck ran him over.”

“Thank you, Matt Patterson for the photo, and Alexxia Bell, Natasha Nowick and Michaela Conder for the great care all the turtles get at Turtle Rescue League.”

Becoming a bestseller. On Sunday, January 17, Becoming a Good Creature will nuzzle its way on to The New York Times Bestseller List for Children’s Picture Books at number 8. Sy thanks Rebecca Green for her superb illustrations and the Salt Project for its beautiful video. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here.

“I learned animals matter.” Sy recently visited The Well School in Peterborough, New Hampshire, via Google Meet. She spoke to two groups of students: Kindergarten through the 4th grade, and then 5th through 8th grade. They had questions about almost every animal on earth, and – no surprise – Sy has met many, many of these animals. They learned about sloths, tigers, sharks, Sy’s dog Thurber, and most of all they learned, as one student said, that “animals matter.”

Inspired. After reading The Soul of an Octopus, artist Megan Dalziel created this stunning painting showing how the wonder of consciousness connects all life. The combination of an octopus with an extinct triceratops represents the vast diversity of life that has existed on earth. Sy is honored that her book inspired this thoughtful artwork.

Just published. Lisa Dabek has spent her life studying tree kangaroos. Dabek is the senior conservation scientist and director of the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program at Woodland Park Zoo. And now she has edited an essential book about these beguiling marsupials. Tree Kangaroos: Science and Conservation has twenty seven chapters by the world’s top tree kangaroo researchers, with a final chapter by Sy.

Lucky wrists. “In northern Thailand, a tribal shaman once foretold [Sy’s] future by looking at the pattern of blue veins on her wrists. He said that her wrists ‘were the luckiest wrists he had ever seen.’ Indeed.” Read about the adventures behind Becoming a Good Creature in this charming, short interview in New Hampshire magazine.

Win a book. Do Good. Help wombats and turtles. Deborah Furchtgott writes the lively blog, The Children’s Bookroom. She’s a mother, and a Harvard PhD (in medieval poetry) who is “passionate about children’s literature.” Sy is an “influential author” in her house. And in honor of that The Children’s Bookroom is holding a Thanking Good Creatures giveaway. She writes: “If you donate to one of the following charities (I encourage at least a $10 donation) and email me proof of donation at deborah.furchtgott@gmail.com then I will enter you to win one of these gorgeous books. Deadline: December 31, 2020. I will draw two names at random in the first days of January, 2021, and ship them out the first week of January. I will ship worldwide!

“To win Becoming a Good Creature, please donate to Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary near Gundaroo in Australia; the donation page is here.

“To win How to Be a Good Creature, please donate to the Turtle Rescue League here in Massachusetts; the donation page is here.

So, please! Consider making a donation, send me a note with which charity you supported so I know which book you’re entered to win. Again:

1. Donate at least $10 to one of the above charities by December 31, 2020
2. Email me with your receipt and chosen charity/book
3. I will notify you if you win in the first days of January and ship your book shortly afterwards!

“Thank you so much for helping to make the world a better place! And thanks so much to Sy Montgomery and Rebecca Green for their work and for showing all of us, kids and adults, concrete ways to work with our fellow creatures to be better ourselves.”

Sea Turtle Rescue Accomplished. With colleagues from Turtle Rescue League, wildlife artist Matt Patterson and Sy have returned from a 10-mile nighttime patrol along Cape Cod’s stormy beaches. They rescued five highly endangered, cold-stunned Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles. Matt dragged the cold turtles by sled to Audubon’s Wellfleet facility. They will be transfered to New England Aquarium’s Quincy marine animal care facility. All are expected to fully recover.

The Good Good Pig is now in its 21st printing, adding 3000 more copies. There are now more than 120,000 paperbacks in print.

Author and educator Mary Bleckwehl has chosen Becoming a Good Creature as one of her Top 10 Books for 2020. Check out the other great picture books she loves here.

Sy is a character in someone else’s novel! In a German work of fiction titled The Octopus’ Ninth Arm, Sy appears in a chapter in which, with the help of an octopus friend at New England Aquarium, she meets Vladimir Putin and… well, you’ll have to read the book (in German) to find out.

It debuted at number two on the Der Spiegel’s bestseller list. Watch out Putin, the octos are coming.

Becoming a Good Creature is a Number 1 Amazon bestseller in children’s science biography. And:

• Kirkus Reviews picks Good Creature as one of the 20 best middle-grade books for 2020.
• The National Science Teachers’ Association and the Center for Books for Children has selected Condor Comeback as one of the Outstanding Science Trade books of the year.
• It’s been a good year for good creatures.

Sy is delighted that the prestigious Science magazine gave Condor Comeback a wonderful review.

And if you missed the segment on condors on New England Chronicle last week, you can watch it here

Sy spoke via Zoom with the fourth graders of PS 163 in New York City who had read The Tarantula Scientist. They peppered Sy with smart questions for an hour. Elizabeth Bullock, age 9, created this portrait of the “Queen of Nature” to commemorate the occasion. Could this be Sy’s new author photo?

Sy talked with Paul Samuel Dolman, host of the podcast What Matters Most, to discuss Becoming a Good Creature. Listen here.

Condor Comeback is on the Longlist for 2021 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books in the Middle Grades Science.

Ahtapotin Ruhu. Turkish readers will soon be reading this translation of The Soul of an Octopus.

Sy is sporting these festive octo masks thanks to a reader.

Condor Comeback is a one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2020

Sy enjoyed talking to the blog Rover about Becoming a Good Creature. Read the short interview here.

Becoming a Good Creature is one of 17 children’s titles selected as a Powell’s Pick of the Season.

In honor of Octopus Month (October, of course) OctoKing Warren Carlyle again called upon Sy to address the OctoNation, which is the world’s biggest octopus fan club. Watch the octo-chat on Facebook here.

Becoming a Good Creature. Watch this fabulous short – minute and a half — introduction to the new book filmed by the amazing Salt Project.

Pre-order Becoming a Good Creature from our wonderful local Toadstool Bookshop.

Condor Comeback. Chronicle, Boston’s WCVB-TV’s long running show, visited Sy to create this fine introduction to Sy’s new book. There’s also plenty of Tia Strombeck’s stunning images of everyone’s favorite vulture, and star turns by Thurber, the snapping-turtle extraordinaire Fire Chief, and even the late, beloved pig Christopher Hogwood. Watch it here.

The bear who sniffed a sleeping homeowner’s foot, a baby condor who survived wildfire, and the hummingbirds and monarch butterflies to watch for in your yard – All these showed up in Sy’s discussion on yesterday’s Afternoon Zoo on WGBH radio — along with why people are painting their cow’s butts with eyes. Listen Here:

The Washington Post tells kids about Condor Comeback. Read it here.

Becoming a Good Creature is one of Amazon’s monthly picks for the best children’s nonfiction in September.

Watch Sy and Tia talk about the new Condor Comeback book as they show cool pictures of condors here.

Sy talks baby turtles, friendly sharks, sexy frogs, and murder hornets on the Afternoon Zoo on WGBH. Listen here:

New editions. Journey of the Pink Dolphins in a German translation. And everyone’s favorite octopus in a forthcoming Danish translation.

Listening to the audiobook of Soul of an Octopus while recovering from an eye injury, artist Maria Curcic fell in love with Athena, Octavia, Kali and Karma. In their honor she created the painting seen above. Check out her work on Facebook: Maria Curcic Fine Art. And on Instagram: @curcicfineart. Thank you, Maria.

Just published. The Korean edition of Tamed and Untamed: Close Encounters of the Animal Kind by Sy and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. Don’t let this cat’s stare put you off.