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| Blue sky and Snow photo by ET Charles |
Red Fox, The Dirigible Balloon, December 2024
Winter Day, The Dirigible Balloon, December 2024
December Lights, The Dirigible Balloon, December 2024
Osprey Chick, The Dirigible Balloon, June 2024
Ruby Throated Hummingbird, The Dirigible Balloon, June 2024
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| Ragweed & Poppy illustrated by Brian Floca |
I purchased Ragweed & Poppy by Newbery Award winning author, Avi a few years ago and have read and reread it. In an ideal forest adventurous mice, Ragweed and Poppy, form friendships, solve problems and exhibit leadership. This middle grade novel published in paperback in 2021 is 288 pages long. Caldecott winning artist Brian Floca rendered engaging depictions of mice and a tedious baby racoon in black and white throughout the book. While this is Book 2 in a series of 7, I read it first and as a stand-alone book; it is a fun book for all. Advanced readers will read above grade level and reluctant readers will enjoy the illustrations and mouse antics.
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| Skyriders cover illustrated by Brandon Dorman |
Polly Holyoke has written a fantasy adventure, Skyriders which is published by Viking an imprint of Penguin Random House, with skysteeds, winged horses, and a young central protagonist named Kie who battles with winged monsters called chimerae. Ms. Holyoke draws the reader in with her first sentence and continues to entertain throughout the book. Brandon Dorman has beautifully illustrated the cover depicting Kie riding her skysteed, N’Rah. Many strong adolescent female and male characters populate this book which has won multiple awards.
Skyriders was designed by Lucia Baez and published in 2023 with 291 pages of story and marketed for readers who are 8 – 12 years old and in grades 3 – 7. This is the first book in the Skyriders series and is a well written fantasy for middle graders with themes of flying and caring for skysteeds and family.
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| Thomas Jefferson's Battle for Science illustrated by Jeremy Holmes |
Beth Anderson’s eighth picture book Thomas Jefferson’s Battle for Science: Bias, Truth and a Mighty Moose! published by Calkins Creek, delights and has a hilarious ending. Award winning illustrator Jeremy Holmes illustrated this story with woodblock prints and digital pencil. The book includes beautifully illustrated end papers with paw prints of various North American mammals. As always Ms. Anderson include back matter which include a timeline, an essay and references.
Two Question Interview with Beth Anderson
Welcome Beth. Thanks so much for returning.
ETC: How did you first learn of Thomas Jefferson’s “Mighty Moose” and its hilarious ending?
BA: My first attraction was to Jefferson’s obsession with mammoths. But when a book came out about that, I let my manuscript rest. Then I stumbled on an article about the moose incident. Soon another book was announced about his obsession with measuring, and that had the moose in it. But…my attraction to the incident was the idea of how to "measure truth." It strongly connected to our moment in time. It held so much relevance and had hugely important ideas about science, misinformation, and checking sources (so important to teachers!). It took a lot of digging to understand the larger context, find the details, and decide how to handle the fact that Jefferson too was biased (with awful consequences).
ETC: I would suggest that “Moose” in the title, the endpapers with paw prints and the line “Or So He Believed,” all constitute both hooks and heart. Is there a specific point in the book that you consider heart or an entry point for a child?
BA: Definitely! Moose in the title surprises and grabs interest. The footprints are a hook that illustrator Jeremy Holmes created in the end papers. And you nailed the beginning of the “heart” thread in the line “so he believed.” That’s really what it’s all about—what we believe, why, and being able to admit our errors. I think about hooks and heart from the very beginning. As I research, that’s what I’m after as I sift through the facts. If I can’t find any value for kids today and the event is an interesting anecdote rather than a story that matters, I let it go. I try to find my heart idea, what the story is about at a deeper level than the physical plot, before I start drafting because that heart becomes the frame and driving force for decisions about what goes in and how I shape the story. The heart of this manuscript shifted a few times as I revised and found that some pieces were too abstract or complicated. I experimented with the “path” through and different endings. There were just SO many possibilities and valuable ideas in this story that it was a real challenge to hone the through line to make it clear and focused.
ETC: Thank you for the detailed answers and a book about science with so much humor.
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| Turkey's Birthday Bash illustrated by Lee Harper |
Best selling author, Wendi Silvano has written Turkey’s Birthday Bash, which is published by Two Lions an imprint of Amazon Publishing. The eighth book in the very popular Turkey Trouble series is illustrated once again by Lee Harper who has rendered humorous, whimsical paintings in watercolor and pencil. Turkey worries that nobody will remember his birthday so wordplay and high jinks dance through the pages as Turkey attempts to discover what is happening. My favorite part of this book is that Turkey has a somewhat simple, backyard birthday party.
Hello Wendi. Welcome.
ETC: Have you ever owned turkeys or domestic poultry?
WS: No, I have never owned a turkey or other domestic poultry, but I did live with a family in the Andes Mountains of Peru for a little while long ago and they had a turkey. When we finished out meals, we would scrape leftovers into a trough for the dogs and the turkey would come running too (I think he thought he was a dog!). He had tons of personality (which surprised me)
ETC: That’s a charming story.
ETC: Is there any one person or workshop that was especially helpful when you first began writing professionally?
WS: It’s hard to pick just one workshop that was most helpful when I first began writing professionally, but I do still remember how helpful one session at an SCBWI Letters and Lines Conference was many years ago. The speaker was Andrea Spooner (an editor) and she talked about the most important elements in a successful picture book. I also was able to have a personal critique from her on one of my manuscripts and her feedback was super helpful. I still ponder the things I learned from her when I am writing my books today!
ETC: Wendi. Thank you so much for visiting.
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Read my previous interview with Wendi Silvano Turkey's Sandtastic Beach Day
