Creator Corner: Author Maria Birmingham and Illustrator Kyle Reed
Welcome to Creator Corner, a blog series where we interview the creators of our recent books. For this post, we interviewed Chomp-O-Rama: The Strange Ways That Animals Eats author Maria Birmingham and illustrator Kyle Reed, whose book is publishing April 15, 2025!
Owlkids Books: Maria, what inspired you to write this book?
Maria Birmingham: A few years ago, I wrote a book with Owlkids called Snooze-O-Rama about the unusual ways that animals sleep. It got me thinking about other odd animal behaviors—like the way they eat. So I thought a companion book might be a fun idea. Luckily, Owlkids agreed, and I dug into the strange eating habits of some of the world’s creatures. Spoiler: There are plenty!
Owlkids Books: Kyle, what was the inspiration for your illustrations in this book?
Kyle Reed: The opportunity to draw cute animals is inspiration enough, but showing their eating habits was new for me. I had a blast drawing this many animals eating at the same time.
OKB: Maria, what was the most enjoyable part of bringing this story to life? What was the most challenging part of the process?
MB: I love to research and find facts that are surprising and worth sharing with young readers. So it’s exciting to turn up lesser-known tidbits. As for the most challenging part of writing this book, that was probably coming up with intriguing comparisons. In Chomp-O-Rama, I compare animal eating habits with the way humans eat. I worked to find habits that were relatable to kids, so they could see how their mealtimes are similar or completely different from other creatures.
OKB: Kyle, what was the most enjoyable part of illustrating this book? What was the most challenging part?
KR: Brainstorming and sketching out the early ideas is my favorite part; figuring out the situations to pair the kids’ eating habits with animals’ eating habits.
Maria’s writing creates a variety of visual possibilities so I can take the illustrations in different directions to find the right solution. It’s a challenging exercise, but a very fun exercise. I’m going to be sneaky and say that’s my vote for both the most enjoyable and most challenging part of illustrating the book.
OKB: Maria, what’s your favorite fact from the book?
MB: My favorite fact from the book is that butterflies drink turtle tears right from a turtle’s face! I saw a video of this phenomenon several years ago and it always stuck with me. So, it was the first fact I wanted to include when I started writing Chomp-O-Rama.
OKB: Kyle, what’s your favorite fact from the book?
KR: The pygmy shrew fact is great. Just imagining that shrew running around all day, all night, then having a snack, and then doing it all over again. It sounds ridiculous and exhausting.
OKB: Maria, what do you hope readers will take away from this book?
MB: I hope readers will see how we are similar to some of the world’s creatures … and how we’re completely different in other ways. I love to hear about readers who find facts in one of my books and are then eager to share the information with others. What could be better?
OKB: Kyle, what do you hope readers will take away from this book?
KR: Just like Snooze-O-Rama, Maria fills this book with lots of interesting information. I can see readers sharing what they learned about animals with family and friends.
OKB: Maria, what’s an interesting fact people may not know about you?
MB: Hmmm… it’s probably that I was born without a sense of smell. That one always dumbfounds people when they learn that about me. In fact, people often forget this “fun fact” even if they’ve known me for ages. That includes my own mom! Decades in, and she’ll still pass me something to smell!
OKB: Kyle, what’s an interesting fact people may not know about you?
KR: The capybara is my favorite animal.
Thank you so much Maria and Kyle for taking the time to do this interview and creating a wonderful book! We hope readers enjoy Chomp-O-Rama: The Strange Ways That Animals Eats as much as we did!
Grab your copy today!
