The Sunnyvale Sun

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Photos help children in learning their ABCs

By Crystal Lu

Philip A. Terzian, a high-tech consultant and Cupertino resident, entered the world of children's literature through photography, a hobby he took up five years ago.

Interested in wildlife, Terzian photographed hundreds of birds within a 20-mile radius of Cupertino. His friends liked the photos and encouraged him to sell them, but Terzian didn't see a market for bird pictures by themselves. Then he hit on the idea of writing a children's book based on his bird photos.

The result is Alphabet Birds, a self-published children's book that helps children learn the letters of the alphabet. The book contains a photo of a bird whose name starts with each letter of the alphabet and a nursery rhyme introducing each bird.

The cover of the books is a photograph of an egret, a white bird with a fussy-feathered crown. The rhyme tells the children to: "Look over here/Look over there/But whatever you do/Don't look at my hair."

"Once I decided to make it a children's book, I wanted to add some educational value to it," says Terzian, adding that children can learn the alphabet, bird identification and bird behavior from the book.

"I think this is something my kids would've enjoyed when they were little," says Terzian, whose daughters are now 23 and 26.

Terzian has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Santa Clara University. He has worked for high-tech companies in Silicon Valley and has been an independent hardware consultant since 1990.

Alphabet Birds is Terzian's first book. During his writing process, he realized there is no bird whose name starts with the letters X or Y. He had to use his imagination to fill the gap, so there is an "X-ray bird" with a picture of a bird skeleton and a "zebra bird" with a photo of a blue Steller's Jay stained with stripes of white paint.

Terzian will have book signings at Orion Telescopes and Binoculars at 10555 S. De Anza Blvd. from 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 10 and at Wild Bird Center, 792 Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos, from 4 to 5 p.m. Nov. 15.

For more information, visit www.bellinghampublishing.com.