This is an inspiring story. 11-year-old Olivia Bouler raised over $200,000 via Audubon’s Gulf oil spill recovery program with bird paintings, which she sent to every donor.
Yes, that alone is awesome, but now she’s also written her own picture book, Olivia’s Birds, “a unique field guide to backyard and endangered birds.” The book features an introductory letter by Audubon expert Dr. Stephen W. Kress, a number of interesting bird facts, hand-drawn illustrations, and photos. The book highlights over 50 birds. It also concerns her efforts to save the birds of the Gulf after the horrible BP oil spill.
In addition to the above, the book also includes easy, everyday ways in which kids of various ages can get involved, take a action, and make the world a cleaner, safer, better place.
“I am willing to help, and I want to make a difference for those birds. I want to be their voice,” Olivia said.
Here’s a little more about Olivia:
“Eleven-year-old Olivia Bouler has drawn more than 100 species of birds and created over 500 paintings for her Save the Gulf campaign. Olivia was named the ASPCA ‘Tommy P. Monahan’ Kid of the Year in 2010 and is a recipient of the Global Appreciation World of Colors Award (World Heritage Cultural Center). She was also a featured speaker at the 2010 TEDx and TEDxSJU conferences and Disney’s Friends for Change Project Green spokesperson. She lives on Long Island with her parents and little brother, Jackson.”
“A lot of artists paint from the heart. This one, though, paints from a broken one,” Steve Hartman of CBS Evening News said of Olivia.
Any guesses on what Olivia wants to be when she grows up? Yeah, if you haven’t watched the video above yet, and ornithologist.