11-Year-Old Bird Artist Olivia Bouler Releases Book

Things 11-year-old Olivia Bouler has done in the last 12 months:

• Cleaned up a Gulf Coast beach with the Jonas Brothers
• Appeared on the "Today" show
• Wrote her first book, "Olivia's Birds: Saving the Gulf," released this week
• Received a glowing review for said book in Publisher's Weekly
• Raised more than $150,000 to help Audubon's efforts in the Gulf

Olivia, an aspiring ornithologist and artist from Islip, Long Island, N.Y., wasn't seeking fame or access to tween heartthrobs when she wrote a letter to the National Audubon Society last spring. Her grandparents live in Alabama. As a frequent Gulf Coast visitor and bird lover, Olivia was crushed when she saw the aftermath of the April 20 massive oil spill.

Dear Audubon Society:

As you all are aware of, the oil spill in the Gulf is devistating (sic). My mom has already donated a lot of money to help, but I have an idea that may also help. I am a decent drawer, and I was wondering if I could sell some bird paintings and give the profits to your organization.

She signed her name at the bottom, and added "11 years old and willing to help."

After AOL News and other media outlets ran stories about Olivia's efforts, the money started pouring in. In exchange for donations to Audubon or other wildlife-focused agencies, Olivia drew or painted a bird for the donor as a thank-you. Her workload grew so intense, she switched to a prints-for-sale, proceeds-to-Audubon program.

"I remember the day AOL article ran," Olivia's mom, Nadine Bouler, told AOL News. "I couldn't believe the e-mails I got in response. It was 100 an hour. One thing led to another with this whole thing."

AOL partnered with Olivia, donating $25,000 to Audubon and setting Olivia up with an AOL Artists page. She continued her efforts throughout her summer break and into her sixth-grade year, raising more than $150,000.

Olivia's efforts offered inspiration to people overwhelmed in the face of the devastation in the Gulf, Audubon spokeswoman Delta Willis said.

"What Olivia did was inspire other kids to do something positive. So many people were feeling outraged and sad, and they couldn't rush down there and volunteer."

As the one-year anniversary of the spill approaches, Willis said Audubon teams have finished a recent evaluation, and while coastal erosion and destroyed habitats are a reality, brown pelicans did return to nest in some areas this spring.

As Olivia's efforts have helped birds in the Gulf, her new book will not only raise further funds for Audubon but also will teach young ornithologists to help birds in their own regions of the world.

"So the book, it is basically facts about birds to get you to love them, to see how fascinating and wonderful they are," Olivia told AOL News. "More things on how to help them, and everything about all environmental things to help out the world. A little biography about me. Tips on how you get started -- set up a bird feeder."

Even before she wrote the book, Olivia had already inspired at least one young conservationist. Her brother Jackson, 7, just won a "Best Conservation Message" award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was named an "Everyday Young Hero" by Youth Service America for his work with Project Puffin.

Despite the inspiring book, media appearances and flattering awards, Olivia and her mom both say she's still the same old (young) Olivia she was a year ago, before the spill and her fundraising campaign and all the attention. She's more focused, and more polished in the face of querying reporters, but "I am still 11-year-old Olivia Bouler in the eyes of me and my friends," she said.

"They look at me and they're like, 'It's Olivia Bouler.' ... The people I meet, they're people. They may be well-known people, but they're people."

She does admit to recently feeling a little awe struck, not by her new acquaintances the Jonas Brothers or Larry King, but by a bird she spotted recently on a visit to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

"I went to Cornell," she said. Olivia hopes to attend Cornell as a student but was visiting as an author on a book tour. "I went birding. I got to sign books at the lab of ornithology. Heart-pounding. I got to get a tour of the campus. I got to see my first cedar waxwing. It was amazing."

This summer Olivia will travel to Costa Rica to deliver copies of her books to schoolchildren and, she hopes, see her first wild parrots and quetzals.

Audubon receives 2 percent of sales on hardcover copies of "Olivia's Birds," available at online and brick-and-mortar bookstores. To read Audubon's one-year update on conditions in the Gulf, visit Audubon.org beginning April 20.