Congratulations, Julie Winterbottom, MAGIC IN A DROP OF WATER!

Thank you so much for sharing the release of Magic in a Drop of Water: How Ruth Patrick Taught the World about Water Pollution with us!

Young readers love STEAM books and I’m sure yours will find many happy readers. Can you share with us a bit about the inspiration for this book? What was your initial spark? When I started working on this book, I had already published several humorous nonfiction books for middle grade readers (Pranklopedia, What a Blast!). But I wanted to try writing a picture book biography. I began by reading a lot of books about women in science. I got very excited when I came across a short essay about the pioneering botanist and ecologist Ruth Patrick. What caught my eye was a sentence about her being only five years old when she fell in love with diatoms, the microscopic algae that became the cornerstone of her career. I loved that she started doing field work at the tender age of five, collecting specimens from streams and examining them under her father’s microscope. And I loved that her childhood passion drove her to become a pioneering, pollution-fighting scientist at a time when there were no women in her field.

Often one of the most difficult parts of crafting our books is not deciding what to include, but deciding what to leave out. What did you choose to leave out of this book and why? Ruth Patrick had a very long and productive life. She was 105 when she died, and she worked well into her nineties. It was difficult to choose which of her scientific achievements to focus on. In my early drafts, I kept trying to shoehorn two strands of her research into the book: her work on diatoms as measures of pollution and her discoveries about overall species diversity as a measure of health. It was too much for a picture book! Finally, I decided to focus on biodiversity. It was a difficult decision, but it let me tell a much more coherent story. The other part I cut, at my editor’s suggestion, was a section about how Patrick was discriminated against as a woman in science. We ended up moving it to the back matter. In hindsight, I think it was a good idea.

What tip can you share with teachers who want to use your book in the classroom? Teachers can use the book to start a discussion of how the diversity of plants and animals in an ecosystem tells you if it is healthy or not. Drawing a food web of organisms in the book—or in another ecosystem—can help students visualize what happens if one or more species disappears, causing others to explode in population. The book can also spark a discussion about advice Ruth’s father gave her when she was young. He told her to “leave the world a better place than you found it.” Ruth found her own ways to use her science to address the real-world problem of pollution, but there are other ways to combine science and activism. Lastly, younger kids can make beautiful art inspired by diatoms. One way to get started is to do a search for images of “Victorian diatom art” and use them to inspire classroom projects.

Congratulations on this book release! What comes next for you? Can you give us a peek at what you are currently researching? I’m researching an idea I had for a book about bears and another about a musical instrument. Maybe I will find a bear that plays a musical instrument! About the author:

Julie Winterbottom was born in Princeton, New Jersey. Growing up, she loved to explore the streams and the woods near her house, much like the subject of her picture book, Magic in a Drop of Water. She is the former editor-in-chief of Nickelodeon Magazine and the author of the humor books Pranklopedia and What a Blast! She lives on the shores of the Hudson River in New York.

Welcome to the world, WHALES IN THE CITY!

I had a fabulous pub day for Whales in the City this week. Thanks Northshire Bookstore for planning a great day of school visits!

Congratulations, Sara Levine, on Hello Dog/Hello Human!

Thank you so much, Sara, for sharing the release of Hello Dog/Hello Human. Young readers love STEAM books and I’m sure yours will find many happy readers. Can you share with us a bit about the inspiration for this book? What was your initial spark? I came up with the idea for this book while walking my dog to the library in North Cambridge to pick up some books. A child asked if she could pet my dog. And while she was gentle, as sometimes happens, she frightened my pup. I explained to her how to approach the dog differently, and in the process, it occurred to me, I could write a book about this, a guide to how to say hello for both dogs and humans.

Writing STEAM books requires a substantial amount of research. Often it is the most fun part of our writing process. Yes, writing STEAM books does usually require substantial research. In this case, my research occurred prior to writing this book. My I grew up on a farm with over one hundred animals, a number of which were dogs. I continued to learn about dog behavior in veterinary school, especially from instructor Brian Kilcommons (who has an excellent book I often recommend to new dog owners: Good Owners, Great Dogs), and from my mother who trained puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and well as from raising my own adopted dogs. So yes, the hands-on part was a lot of fun. And is also an ongoing a learning process—learning to read dog behavior and learning to teach children how to read it so they can connect safely and with mutual respect. Here’s a photo of a friend’s child who was afraid my dog, and my dog who was afraid of this child. I worked to help them learn how to successfully say hello. The book is dedicated to them.

Often one of the most difficult parts of crafting our books is not deciding what to include, but deciding what to leave out. What did you choose to leave out of this book and why? There are many good books out on dog behavior, but I wanted to zero in on the basics of how to say hello. Understanding this part sets up both dog and human for a successful interaction. And also, I thought it would make a fun and funny book to write it a Flip-Book with instructions for humans on one side and tips for dogs on the other.

What tip can you share with teachers who want to use your book in the classroom? I’d suggest having the kids act out scenarios where one kid is being a dog and one a child, and having them greet (or NOT greet if the conditions are not ideal). What body language does a scared dog show? What body language does an aggressive dog show? Teachers can use the book to help kids identify how dogs let us know when they are ready for an interaction. To expand on this, to teach animal behavior more broadly, look up and discuss how to tell a horse’s feelings from its body language. And a cat’s. And a human’s too!

Congratulations on this book release! What comes next for you? Can you give us a peek at what you are currently researching? I have four science books coming soon: Watching and Waiting: What Hatches from Nature’s Nurseries (coming April 2025) How We Fly (TBD) Talking to Worms (summer 2025) A Visit with the Birds (summer 2025) And many more ideas in the works! Thats wonderful, Sara. I look forward to them!

About the author: Sara Levine is an award-winning author of over a dozen picture books for children. She used her experience as a veterinarian and companion to many dogs and humans to write this guide to polite introduction for those seeking cross-species connection. Her titles have received the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science, Animal Behavior Society Children's Book Award, Bank Street College Best Book of the Year, Beehive Book Award, Cook Prize, and the Mathical Book Prize. For more information visit http://www.saralevinebooks.com/

Congratulations, Sarah Albee, on ZERO: The Number that Almost Wasn't

Thank you so much for sharing the release of Zero: The Number that Almost Wasn’t with us! Young readers love STEAM books and I’m sure yours will find many happy readers. Can you share with us a bit about the inspiration for this book? What was your initial spark? Thanks so much for having me, Nancy! So I’ve long been curious as to why our system is known as the “Hindu-Arabic numeral system,” and have also often wondered why our calendar is “off,” in that the 19th century means the 1800s, etc. (In every book I write I feel the need to clarify this system for kids, or just say “in the 1800s...”) And then one day while I was researching a different project I stumbled across an event from the eighth century (that would be the 700s) when the pope asking the Venerable Bede to calculate the date of Easter—a complicated endeavor back then. Poor V. B. had to adhere to complex ecclesiastical rules that were based on both the lunar and solar calendars and his task required expertise in both astronomy and math. And to make matters even more tricky for V. B., I learned that he had no knowledge of zero! That made me sit up and pay attention. Think about that—Roman numerals, which many of us studied in school, look like this: L C D M X V I—and yep, there’s no zero. So early creators of our Western calendar had to start with the first century AD, rather than the “zero-eth” century. Hence our messed-up calendar. All this back story is complicated, and I left most of it out of the book, but it started me wondering where zero came from, who used it first, and when it became universally adapted. It’s a pretty fascinating history.

Writing STEAM books requires a substantial amount of research. Often it is the most fun part of our writing process. Did you meet any challenges in your research journey? EVERYTHING about researching this book was challenging! (But fun.) The timeline of the book spans from the Sumerians all the way to the present day. And the story includes so many areas of the world, including Mesopotamia, ancient India, ancient Cambodia, China, Baghdad, and even the Maya in early Mexico. It’s not until late in the book that zero gets introduced to the western world, let alone accepted there. Did I mention this is a picture book? I’m so very grateful for the many math teachers, mathematicians, and history-of-math experts I consulted for help with this book. And also for Chris Hsu, my awesome illustrator, who did tons of his own historical research and also added his special touches. Here’s a list in the back matter of some of what he added to the illustrations. (Note he even composed a spread using the Fibonacci sequence!!)

Often one of the most difficult parts of crafting our books is not deciding what to include, but deciding what to leave out. What did you choose to leave out of this book and why? Yes that’s for sure my perennial struggle (see above), but an additional one was figuring out how to present such vast history and how to explain complex mathematical topics without assuming any prior knowledge on the part of my readers. Chris’s illustrations helped a lot, as did my experts—and I consulted many experts. I even had the help of a sixth grader, Korben, who sent me a suggestion for the back cover after I visited his school. My editor loved it and used it!

What tip can you share with teachers who want to use your book in the classroom? The book touches on a lot of math topics (place value, base 10, binary coding, even calculus). I certainly don’t exhaustively explain these topics, but the book does help contextualize the math, and also the history, for kids. I mean, who knew there were so many geopolitical issues involved with the West’s acceptance of zero? Some European opponents called it “dangerous Saracen magic.” (Zero arrive in the West during the Crusades, which were basically holy wars between the Christians and the Muslims.) I’m hoping that knowing a bit of this history will help kids appreciate the elegance of the Hindu-Arabic number system, and also see how relevant math can be to our daily lives and to the advancement of technology.

Congratulations on this book release! What comes next for you? Can you give us a peek at what you are currently researching ? I’ve got a book in progress about dinosaurs! Sauropods, specifically—they’re my personal favorites. It should be announced soon. That sounds wonderful! Happy researching, Sarah!

About the author: Sarah Albee is the New York Times bestselling author of nonfiction books for kids. Her most recent titles include Zero: The Number that Almost Wasn’t: The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart’s Brush with George Washington, and Bounce!: A Scientific History of Rubber. Other popular titles include Troublemakers in Trousers; Accidental Archaeologists; and Poop Happened: A History of the World from the Bottom Up. She and her husband live in New York City and have three grown children. Visit her at www.sarahalbeebooks.com

Congratulations, Elizabeth Shreeve on ON AN OCEAN JOURNEY: Animals in Motion through the Seas!

Thank you so much for sharing the release of ON AN OCEAN JOURNEY with us! Young readers love STEAM books and I’m sure yours will find many happy readers. Can you share with us a bit about the inspiration for this book? What was your initial spark?

On an Ocean Journey has an unusual origin story: it began with the artwork. Back in 2007, Alaska-based artist Ray Troll created a beautiful set of murals for a marine science laboratory operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Pacific Grove, California. (It’s worth a visit if you’re in the Monterey area; go to 1352 Lighthouse Avenue, near Asilomar State Park). When budget cuts forced NOAA to abandon the building, Ray held onto the original colored pencil drawings. In early 2022, Ray sent me an email. Would I consider a picture book collaboration? Imagine my delight! I’m a big Ray Troll fan, and apparently I’d caught his attention through my earlier books. Ray soon filled my inbox with gorgeous depictions of marine animals. On the phone, he briefed me on the NOAA project. Then it was up to me to transform a collection of images into a picture book. What a joy to explore storylines inspired by these stunning, scientifically accurate renderings! Writing STEAM books requires a substantial amount of research. Often it is the most fun part of our writing process. Did you meet any challenges in your research journey? You might think the research for this book was buttoned up; after all, Ray had worked closely with scientists at NOAA on the murals. They focused on an oceanic pattern known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), which describes warmer and cooler phases of water temperature over ten-year increments in the Northern Pacific. Interesting…but was that the right topic for a picture book? To me, Ray’s bold images seemed best-suited to a younger audience. So, what was my angle? I decided not to decide. Instead, I dove into research. I outlined key facts for each species: range and habits, role in the food web, important features, and conservation status. Soon I was swimming in some deep waters of information on marine zoology.

(Author and artist at the former NOAA marine lab in Pacific Grove, CA) Often one of the most difficult parts of crafting our books is not deciding what to include, but deciding what to leave out. What did you choose to leave out of this book and why? Ray provided about 50 images. We decided that each one deserved a page, so I had way too many for a 32-page format (22 drawings ended up in the book, including a few new ones). After color-coding the factual material on each animal, I spread drawings on our big table and began to edit. Some images were particularly striking; those made the cut. (Fortunately, Ray’s favorites coincided with mine.) Ray is a big fan of fish, but I wanted a variety of creatures including reptiles, birds, and marine mammals. Sorry, fish! Many beauties hit the floor. To increase the overall appeal of the book, I gave preference to animals that ranged beyond the North Pacific into other ocean environments. As I winnowed, I admired the dynamic quality of Ray’s drawings. A theme emerged: how do animals move through the water? I wrote a fact-filled manuscript entitled “One Ocean in Motion.” My agent sent it out. Darn, no takers! I started over. This time I kept it simple, with a structure that goes from shallow water to ocean depths. The two images of divers serve as bookends for the opening and ending, while a full spread of predators closing in on a baitball of sardines provides a high point. Less science, more poetry! I hope the final version lets Ray’s artwork shine, as it should.

(Artwork with color-coded research notes: plenty to choose from!) What tip can you share with teachers who want to use your book in the classroom? On an Ocean Journey will be a fun read-aloud and also lends itself to creative writing and art projects for Grades K-2. The “Field Guide” at the end provides details on each animal, along with links for learning about the ocean and how to protect it. You’ll find an Activity Kit created by the publisher, with input from Ray and me, on my website . One activity instructs student to arrange a set of images in the order of their choosing. Add imagination and color. Voila, a story!

Congratulations on this book release! What comes next for you? Can you give us a peek at what you are currently researching? My next publication will be a middle grade book entitled Dinosaurs to Dragons: The Lore and Science of Mythical Creatures. It’s coming from Atheneum/Simon & Schuster in the next year or so, with artwork by Violeta Encarnacion combined with photographs. The project has stretched my science-oriented mind into archaeology, mythology, and history. It’s a thrill to discover new topics, and a privilege to share with young readers.

About the author: ELIZABETH SHREEVE grew up in a family of writers and scientists who taught her to pay attention to horseshoe crabs, seabirds, and other wonderful creatures along the Atlantic coastline. Now based in California, she writes books for young readers that celebrate the origins and diversity of life on Earth. Her recent books include The Upside-Down Book of Sloths, The Oddball Book of Armadillos, and the award-winning Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas. Learn more about her books, author visits, and fishy adventures at ElizabethShreeve.com and on social media @ShreeveBooks.