Nonfiction

SLJ Star for A Pandemic Is Worldwide

Posted by on Dec 3, 2021 in BOOK: A Pandemic Is Worldwide, Nonfiction, PIcture Books, Reviews | 0 comments

ART coverUtterly thrilled to say that School Library Journal has given A Pandemic is Worldwide a starred review! They say:

In simple terms and with lots of explanatory illustrations, this addition to the “Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out” series offers an objective view of a pandemic that is easy to understand…. Stating that a pandemic is caused by a bacteria or a virus, the book describes ways in which readers can actively inhibit the spread of the disease through handwashing, covering injuries, and staying away from sick people; it emphasizes the importance of isolation with a very helpful chart, and even includes directions for proper handwashing technique…. VERDICT: This slender volume may alleviate fears and help readers understand how illness spreads, while its underlying message is that those who wear masks, wash their hands, and stay home can help to end pandemics.

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Kirkus Review for A Pandemic Is Worldwide

Posted by on Nov 17, 2021 in BOOK: A Pandemic Is Worldwide, Nonfiction, Reviews | 0 comments

ART coverKirkus Reviews has given A Pandemic Is Worldwide a thumbs up! I like the last line best: “A gently worded explainer for young readers looking for answers.”

Young readers gain insight into what pandemic means….Previous generations of youngsters may not have been familiar with the word pandemic, but today’s youngsters surely are….Opening with a digestible lesson on how pandemics develop and a brief historical overview of medical plagues of the past, the text then turns a microscope on the Covid-19 virus—its physical symptoms, social effects, and what people can do to curb its spread. The role of vaccine development and scientific advances in the field of immunology is highlighted throughout the book. The illustrations of earnest doctors administering vaccines to willing children will rub anti-vaxxers the wrong way, but the wholesome overarching message of “we’re all in this together” will play well to the intended audience….A gently worded explainer for young readers looking for answers.

Can’t say I particularly care about rubbing anti-vaxxers the wrong way, so this review makes me happy all through.

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From Endangered to Extinct

Posted by on Nov 12, 2021 in Animals, Children's Literature, Nonfiction | 0 comments

512px-Houghton_MS_Am_21_(31)_-_John_James_Audubon,_ivory_billed_woodpecker

John James Audubon Letters and Drawings, 1805-1892, MS Am 21 (31), Houghton Library, Harvard University

As I work on three books about endangered animals (elephants, frogs, and lions), I’m enthralled with delighted details about their lives–elephants are scared of bees, some frogs can glide from tree to tree, lions can’t purr but ocelots can. These are the little things that I hope will engage kid’s attention as much as mine, will hook them in and get them reading.

And sometimes I can actually forget how endangered these animals are and what a slim chance we have to create a world where they can thrive. Habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, poaching–all the threats we hear about over and over.

And then I read an article like this on in the New York Times, about the 22 species of animal removed from the Endangered Species List–and not because their population numbers have recovered. Because they’ve been declared extinct.

It feels like a small thing, maybe too small, to write books that could get a new generation of conservationists to care, to hope, to act to keep a diverse world alive. But at least it’s one small thing I can do.

Goodbye to the ivory-billed woodpecker, once called the Lord God bird for its astonishing call. And to twenty-one more animals we will never see again.

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A Frog in his Throat

Posted by on Sep 22, 2021 in Animals, Children's Literature, Nonfiction | 0 comments

One more delightfully odd frog: Darwin’s frog. The male swallows the fertilized eggs that his mate has laid and stores them in his vocal sac. (That’s the little sac inside the throat that blows up like a balloon to amplify the frog’s call.) They stay there for up to fifty days, until the eggs have hatched and the tadpoles have developed into tiny frogs. And then…

 

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