Biography
As a girl, riding on horseback, alone, through the North Florida backwoods, author Mary Tebo learned many lessons that stayed with her. Among them: the animals who live on the margins of our lives figure as main characters in epic tales of quick wits, sacrifice, and survival. It is no surprise that her first book for children, Sparrow, follows a small bird through one important day in its life, its actions superimposed over one of the most dramatic landscapes known to the human race: Jerusalem.
Tebo’s past work illustrates her attention to the natural world and her efforts to give the players in that world a voice. Through newspaper columns and local commentary for National Public Radio, she has aimed to acquaint her audience with everything from cowbirds to tai-tai thickets. Moving to Knoxville, Tennessee, she came to appreciate that natural environment through experiencing it with her children and, ultimately, by spending time outside with another horse.