For Darcy Gifford, “The Bird Who Couldn’t Tweet” wasn’t the result of years spent planning a children’s book. Instead, it grew from something much simpler: a desire to create.
After a career in communications and higher education, Gifford was looking for a creative outlet beyond the writing she does professionally. While brainstorming with her nephew, Drake Gifford, a middle school art teacher, she landed on a playful idea: What if there was a bird who couldn’t tweet?
“I write for a living, but not this type of writing,” Gifford said. “I was looking for a creative outlet.”
What started as a humorous concept soon evolved into something more personal. As she wrote, Gifford realized the story reflected her own childhood experiences as a shy, introverted child learning to speak up and feel comfortable in her own voice.
“I didn’t sit down to write an autobiographical story,” she said. “It just came out of me.”
The result is “The Bird Who Couldn’t Tweet”, a picture book about Piper, a young bird who struggles to communicate like the others around her and discovers that finding her voice happens in her own time.
The story centers on Piper, a young bird who can’t tweet like the others. While she knows she has something to say, the words just won’t come. Through patience, practice and encouragement from those around her, Piper learns that her voice doesn’t need to sound like anyone else’s—it simply needs to be her own.
“Some voices don’t arrive all at once,” Gifford said. “The story is about finding your voice and having the courage to be yourself.”
The book’s themes resonate deeply with Gifford because, in many ways, Piper’s story mirrors her own. Rather than creating a character who needed to be “fixed,” Gifford intentionally wrote Piper as a child who simply develops at her own pace.
“I believe people should have their own agency to figure things out in their own time,” she said. “Nothing is wrong with being on a different timetable.”
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The story’s gentle message is one many parents will recognize. While Piper struggles to express herself, she is surrounded by supportive friends and family members who believe in her.
“Her mom tells her, ‘When you’re ready, it will come,'” Gifford said. “That’s really the heart of the story.”
A family collaboration
The book also became a meaningful family project. Before she had even finished writing the manuscript, Gifford texted her nephew, Drake Gifford, a middle school art teacher, with a simple question: Would he like to illustrate it?
“He said, ‘Sure,'” Gifford recalled with a laugh.
What began as a creative side project soon evolved into a two-year collaboration between aunt and nephew. Neither had created a children’s book before.
“I do a lot of writing, but I’d never written a book,” Gifford said. “And he draws, but he’d never illustrated a book. We were doing it just for fun.”
Together, they learned every aspect of the process— from developing character expressions and page layouts to navigating self-publishing and distribution.
“We learned how to tell a story and how to illustrate a story,” she said. “It came together organically. We weren’t looking at the market. We were just making something creative and kind.”
The process also allowed Gifford to support her nephew’s artistic ambitions.
“It makes me happy as his aunt that I could help him on this journey, too,” she said. “Now he can say he’s illustrated a book.”
Humor along the way
While the story explores social-emotional themes such as confidence, belonging and self-expression, Gifford was equally committed to making children laugh.
“I was trying to have fun,” she said. “I wanted my great-nephew to find it funny.”
Readers will find plenty of playful moments as Piper attempts various strategies to discover her voice, including physical comedy and help from her energetic squirrel friend.
“We laughed the whole time making it,” Gifford said.
Even some of the characters have roots in family life. The bird family in the story includes six children—just like the family Gifford grew up in.
“It just happened,” she said. “Five birds and one little bird. That’s the six of us.”
A story that resonates
Since publication, Gifford has heard from readers who see themselves in Piper’s journey.
“So many people tell me they were the same way growing up,” she said. “The story seems to come to people in its own time.”
The book has also found a meaningful connection to Northwest Ohio through the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library system, which added copies to its collection.
For Gifford, seeing readers connect with the story has been especially rewarding.
“I’m very proud of getting it over the finish line and having something that people seem to resonate with,” she said.
Advice for dreamers
For anyone holding onto a creative dream, Gifford offers simple advice: “Go for it.”
She admits she didn’t spend years researching children’s publishing before beginning the project.
“I didn’t want to get stuck in researching and planning,” she said. “Just write the thing. Create the thing.”
Her biggest lesson? Creativity grows through action.
“Get a draft out,” she said. “Then you have something to work with. It’s an iterative process.”
Gifford credits stepping away from technology and everyday responsibilities with helping spark the book’s creation.
“I wrote it while I was in Florida,” she said. “I got away from my day-to-day life. I wasn’t on a device—I just had a notepad.”
She encourages aspiring writers and artists to intentionally seek out spaces that inspire creativity.
“Get yourself in spaces where you feel inspired,” she said. “Get away from tech and get to your own brain. It frees up creativity.”
About the book
The Bird Who Couldn’t Tweet is written by Darcy Gifford and illustrated by Drake Gifford. Intended for children ages 3-7, the picture book follows Piper, a young bird who struggles to find her voice and learns that confidence comes not from being like everyone else, but from becoming herself.
With expressive artwork, humor and a warm emotional journey, the book encourages patience, self-expression and courage—valuable lessons for children and the adults who love them.
Parents, educators and caregivers can learn more about the book at Darcy Gifford’s website: https://www.giffordcreative.org/piper.
