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The Lizard Lady
by Jennifer Keats Curtis (Author), Nicole F. Angeli (Author), and Veronica Jones (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Join the Lizard Lady as she cuts her way through thick Caribbean forests searching for critically endangered St. Croix ground lizards. Hunted to extinction on the island of St. Croix by invasive species brought by colonizing farmers, these lizards are now only found on surrounding islands in the US Virgin Islands.

Co-author Nicole F. Angeli is the Lizard Lady — can she help save these animals? A day in a life of a woman scientist can be anything but boring.

Snippet: The lizards are hard to see, But Nicole is an expert tracker. Sometimes she hears the lizards before she can even see them.

Shhh! Do you hear that?

SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH

A lizard is hungrily prowling, looking for small prey–cockroaches, moths, termites, ants, and small hermit crabs–in the leaves.

Guest Post by Dr. Nicole Angeli and Jennifer Keats Curtis

Dr. Nicole Angeli is a wildlife scientist and postdoc at the Alabama Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit at Auburn University. She is the co-chair of the Caribbean PARC sub-group and a Smithsonian Institution research collaborator. She integrates landscape and population modeling to inform conservation decision making. Scientists from the time of Darwin have predicted that species with limited capacity to adapt to changing environments decline, while species with more capacity to adapt persist. Her research program is connected by the question, “Why do some species persist, while other closely related species go extinct?”

Children’s author Jennifer Keats Curtis wants to help bring children closer to the animals in their own backyards. By diligently researching her topic and interviewing real experts, including children working to help preserve and protect local wildlife, the long-time journalist has developed a knack for teaching young children about important ecological issues and what they can do to help.”

Q. Describe your writing process.
A. Dr. Nicole Angeli: The main method of academic communication is the written word. We have several dozen common journals where we submit papers and perspectives, and on this basis I consider myself and all scientists professional writers.

I generally write 2 – 3 hours each day, either generating new content or editing old science. However, I’m usually writing for a very technical audience using the jargon of my discipline. The Lizard Lady was fun because I was able to write to a completely new audience of people.

When Jen and I began to correspond on the manuscript, she translated many concepts that I thought clear-cut. Once the bones of the story were laid out, I was mostly reading for accuracy. Jen and the folks at Arbordale Press used their expertise to translate concepts and help me to communicate better with children.

A. Jennifer Keats Curtis: Well, I frequently describe my writing process as throwing up on paper. I take everything that I’ve learned about my topic and chuck it up on paper. Not literally . . I guess it’s “technically” called a brainstorm. Since I’m not a scientist, it’s sometimes quite a learning curve when I work with experts like Nicole! I obviously can’t use everything that I’ve learned so I take that messy brainstorm and determine which parts I want to use for the story and then put it together, sort of like solving a jigsaw puzzle. For this book, Nicole is the brains. She IS the Lizard Lady. I just get to help her tell her story to young learners.

Q. Tell us about your latest book.
A. Dr. Nicole Angeli: When Jen and I met, we shared an enthusiasm for telling the story of the success of the St. Croix ground lizard – it was her innovation to include me as a lead character. I was a bit embarrassed but later embraced my role. She was right, it’s a large part of the story.

The Lizard Lady is fundamentally the story of every successful conservation action. A small group of people take an interest and engage in action. In The Lizard Lady, a group of scientists got interested and decided to save the St. Croix ground lizard. The Lizard Lady describes the scientific process of conservation monitoring. It’s all true, and it’s a story happening across our country and our world for species in peril. I’ll add that the gorgeous illustrations by Veronica detail as much of the science as the words.

A. Jennifer Keats Curtis: The Lizard Lady is a gorgeously illustrated nonfiction about a fabulous female scientist who is saving a little ground lizard from extinction. I’m so excited to introduce Nicole and the concept of conservation biology to kids. Nicole was a little nervous about being the central character in this book but she is the story and this fun-to-read book highlights her important role in saving an animal from extinction. We also get to use her as a role model for budding scientists, especially young girls. Nicole is cool and tough. She loves being outdoors and hacking through brush to find these elusive reptiles and rescue them. I’ve been providing background about the book to students during school visits and kids never fail to clap when I tell them about her work.

Thanks for sharing your new book, Dr. Nicole Angeli and Jennifer Keats Curtis!

No More Noisy Nights
by Holly L. Niner (Author) and Guy Wolek (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Who is making so much noise and how will Jackson ever get to sleep?

Snippet:

Guest Post by Holly L. Niner

Holly L. Niner grew up in Newburgh, New York, with her nose in a book and a boogey monster in the basement. She is a speech therapist and the award-winning author of Mr. Worry, I Can’t Stop, and The Day I Ran Away. Holly lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana with my husband and a lazy, crazy cat. This is her fourth picture book.

Q. Describe your writing process.
A. Thanks, Anastasia, for your interest in my books and my writing process. For me it starts with an idea which can come from anyplace in my life: a snippet of overheard conversation, something I see on TV or read in the paper, a real life event someone shares with me, or just from letting my mind wander during a walk.

Once that idea is planted, I think about it. At some point in the thinking process I usually begin to “hear” some of the story, and then I begin writing. At first, I don’t worry about getting everything right. For instance, if I haven’t decided on a character’s name, I’ll put in a question mark to keep things flowing. If I’m lucky, I might get a complete draft in the first sitting, but I often start writing before I’ve found my way to the end.

The real work begins once the first words are on paper and I continue to think about the story. Can it be stronger? Does it flow? Can I up the excitement level? I work on a laptop and print drafts as I go along because I like to sit in a comfy chair and make edits on paper. Eventually I ask others to read the story and give me their thoughts. It sometimes amazes me how much a final draft differs from the first draft.

Most of the many picture book manuscripts I have written will never be published, but the work is not wasted because each one has the potential to make me a better author. They say there is nothing new to tell, just new ways to tell it. I have sometimes seen a book or read a review with the same idea as one of my unpublished stories. After the sting of seeing my idea published by someone else has worn off, I go back to my manuscript and try to find a different way to tell my story. I’ll occasionally look back at my pile of unfinished stories, to see if an ending pops into my mind.

Q. Tell us about your latest book.
A. The idea for No More Noisy Nights came from a book of daily journal prompts for students. One prompt asked the writer to “compose a letter to the monster under your bed asking him to move.” The first versions of my story were epistolary, with Jackson writing letters and the other characters writing back. When Shari Dash Greenspan, Flashlight Press editor, was considering the story, we worked on several different approaches. One had Jackson as a child helping his grandma move, but we settled on Jackson the mole moving into a new underground home, which Guy Wolek illustrated perfectly.

Personified animals are often used in children’s stories because the animal can experience things a child cannot, for instance, Jackson the mole can live alone. This enables him to face the noises in his home in his own way. Instead of being afraid by them or reacting angrily, he demonstrates empathy for others and problem solving, allowing him to get some sleep and make new friends!

I hope children enjoy exploring Jackson’s home, hearing the noises he hears, and laughing at the silly things he does. Most of all, I hope that Jackson and his friends become their friends too!

Thanks for sharing your new book, Holly!