Meet Shoreline Arts Alliance Member & Author, Gail Martino

Gail Martino’s Feathered & Famous Celebrates

America’s All-Star Birds

As the country prepares to mark America’s 250th anniversary, New Haven author Gail Martino is inviting families to look at American history through a lively and unexpected lens: birds.

Martino’s newest book, Feathered & Famous: Meet America’s All-Star Birds, introduces children ages 6–12 and their families to the birds that represent the United States, from the Bald Eagle to state birds and other official bird symbols. Published by Brightwing Press in New Haven, the book combines vivid photographs, accessible facts, and a spirit of discovery designed to help families connect nature, history, geography, and conservation. An accompanying educator’s guide is also available for teachers, librarians, homeschoolers, and program leaders who want to bring the book into classrooms, libraries, and nature programs.

The timing is especially fitting. With the Fourth of July approaching and America250 celebrations underway, Feathered & Famous offers families, classrooms, libraries, and nature programs a way to explore national identity through the natural world. The book looks at how birds have become symbols of place, values, landscape, and imagination and how paying attention to them can open the door to deeper curiosity about the world around us.

Martino is an author, scientist, consultant, and birder whose work centers on curiosity and nature. She is a board member of both Connecticut Audubon and the New Haven Bird Club, where she has helped inspire our community to discover birds firsthand. She holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Boston College, with additional training from Yale University and the MIT Sloan School of Management. Her science and consulting background informs the clear, engaging way she approaches nature, learning, and public programs.

In addition to Feathered & Famous, Martino is the author of Flightlines: Birds in Haiku, Image, and Wonder (2025), offering a threefold glimpse into each bird: a haiku to distill a moment, a photograph to capture its spirit, and a fact to deepen understanding.

Martino will be appearing at several upcoming book events and signings around the state. She will be at Ives Library in New Haven on May 30 from 1–3 p.m. to help kick off its summer reading program. In July, she will be the featured Author-in-Residence at Café Atlantique in Milford, CT, with book signings from 6–7:30 p.m. on July 1, July 8, July 15, July 22, and July 29. She will also participate in the 28th Annual Sharon Summer Book Signing on Friday, July 31 from 4:45–7:30 p.m.; appear at the Milford Fair on the Half Shell on August 15 from 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; and attend the New Haven Book and Vendor Fair at East Rock Park, College Woods, on Saturday, September 26 from 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

Martino is available for family programs, Zoom talks, school visits, festivals, and nature programming.

More information is available at www.brightwingpress.com.