Our family traveled to see the complete solar eclipse. An adventure story for another day! But that has had me thinking about the heavens and the people who explore them. One of those people was unlikely indeed. Caroline Herschel was an aristocratic woman, a spinster, in the eighteenth century. She spent most of her life […]
I thrill to books about triumphal firsts in human rights–stories about the Emancipation Proclamation, stories about universal suffrage, stories about breaking the color barrier in sports, stories about making inter-racial marriages legal. Those are important stories that need to be told. But as recent events remind us, it takes time for society to change. Sometimes a […]
When I was researching my book Mountain Chef I met a remarkable and charismatic outdoorsman, Jack Shu. Jack is the founder of the annual Sing Peak Pilgrimage. I’ve loved talking to him about public parks and kids and am thrilled to share his thoughts here. You worked for years in California state parks. What insights did […]
I’m thrilled that the cover reveal for my new book, Girl Running, is happening today on the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge. Hop on over to Mrs. Knott’s Book Nook to see it! Girl Running will be on bookshelves on February 6, 2018. The art in Girl Running is collage. There’s a rich history of collage art in picture […]
Kings…princesses…castles. The Hawk of the Castle appeals to all of those fairy tale elements, but it’s full of nonfiction content. It uses a fictional narrator (“This is me. This is my father.”) to explain how falcons and hawks were used in medieval times for hunting. The text is in verse reminiscent of “This is the House […]
I’m doing somersaults of joy that my book Mountain Chef, has been named the Carter G. Woodson Award winner at the elementary school level by the National Council of Social Studies. The award is intended to highlight books that depict the real lived experience of ethnic and racial minorities in the […]