Congratulations, Carrie Pearson on WATCH THEM GROW!

Thank you so much for sharing the release of Watch Them Grow: The Fascinating Science of Animal Beginnings with us, Carrie! Middle grade readers love STEAM books and I’m sure yours will find many enthusiastic readers. Can you share with us a bit about the inspiration for this book? What was your initial spark? Thank you for the opportunity to share Watch Them Grow! Ironically, the inspiration for this STEAM book came from a musical (referencing the ‘M’ in STEAM). During the pandemic, I watched the musical Hamilton on a streaming service several times. Leslie Odom Jr. enthralled me with his rendition of the song The Room Where It Happens. During one iteration, I heard in my mind, “The Womb Where It Happens,” and thought of a book project about animal gestation. The concept started as a picture book, but when Carol Hinz, associate publisher at Lerner/Millbrook Press, asked if we’d consider it as a middle-grade photographic book, I quickly agreed. From my research, I knew a deeper dive would be warranted. The photographs I had already found were fascinating, and I believed they would captivate independent readers.

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 for Watch Them Grow ? This book required deep research skills. First, I needed to scour scientific research papers to find studies that covered the prenatal development of animal body parts, such as teeth, tails, and whiskers. Then, I narrowed those subjects based on the three themes we selected for the body parts—designed for movement, ingestion, or sensing. I found outliers that didn’t fit the body part themes but were too interesting to ignore in relation to the overall book topic, such as the big-belly seahorse, where the male gestates the eggs. Sometimes, the research papers were written in scientific language that, even with my science background, I found challenging to synthesize. In those cases, I asked my scientist husband to help interpret. My resourceful sister-in-law solved another research problem. We needed permission to use a photograph from a research paper showing fang development in the prenatal Japanese Mamushi snake. We couldn't connect with the researchers who lived in Japan. I discovered that one of the co-researchers was scheduled to speak at an upcoming conference in Portland, OR. My sister-in-law was visiting me and heard my sad story. Luckily, she lives near Portland and would be back home during his conference. She offered to try to get into the conference, find where he was presenting, and, immediately after his talk, give him a letter I had drafted requesting his permission. She found him! And he said, Yes! Here is the photograph:

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? I initially thought the book would cover superlatives, such as animals with the longest and shortest gestation periods, the smallest and largest animals, those that live at the highest altitudes, and the deepest earth dwellers, among others. However, research on animals matching these themes wasn’t always available. I had to start from a different point — where good research existed — and develop the themes from there.

What tip can you share with teachers who want to use your book in the classroom? The book benefited from early feedback by science author and educator Jessica Fries-Gaither. She identified key concepts included in the text and recommended areas we could improve to align with the Next Generation Science Standards for middle-grade students. It’s a meaty book but presented in digestible bits. A no-fee Educator Guide is available for download from my website with activities, discussion topics, and vocabulary sets. The Guide is chock-full of actionable goodies!

Congratulations on this book release! It's an amazing book that pairs so well with your picture book biography, VIRGINIA WOULDN'T SLOW DOWN. What comes next for you? Can you give us a peek at what you are currently researching ? Thank you! I’m thrilled to have this baby out in the world. I am currently researching how technology can be deployed in the fight to save our world (not just our planet) from the trash humans create. It is a topic that is difficult and inspirational at the same time.

Find out more about the author of WATCH THEM GROW: Carrie A. Pearson is an award-winning author, presenter, and early childhood educator. She writes books that uncover hidden stories in our world, whether about towering trees, trailblazing women, or tiny animal embryos. Her authored books have received distinctions such as Junior Library Guild Gold, School Library Journal's Best Books of the Year, and a CCBC Choices listing, as well as numerous state honors and awards. Her greatest honor was receiving the Michigan Reading Association’s Gwen Frostic Award for her contributions to literacy development. Carrie lives near the sandy shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where she writes, researches, and occasionally rescues stray ideas from the woods. Find free resources at carriepearsonbooks.com and connect on Pinterest: carrieapearson, Instagram: @carrieapearson.author, Bluesky: @cpearsonauthor.bsky.social, and on her Facebook author page: pearsoncarrieann