Author: Anastasia Suen

From her studio in Northern California, developmental editor Anastasia Suen reads, writes, and edits books for creators of all ages.
Posted on

Extreme Birdwatching

Extreme Birdwatching: Measuring Change on a Galápagos Island
by Loree Griffin Burns (Author) and Jamie Green (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Daphne is an island. Not one you’d choose for a vacation. There are no sandy beaches, resorts, hotels, or houses. No tall trees to make shade. The steep, rocky sides of a volcanic Galápagos island are not inviting, and most who visit this part of the world sail right past. But Peter and Rosemary Grant are not most people. A husband-and-wife team, the Grants came to this singular place with a singular goal: to study two species of wild finch. For decades, the scientists and their students counted, cataloged, and observed finches on a remote mile-wide island. Through teamwork, painstaking observation—extreme bird-watching, extreme plant study, extreme seed counting—and careful beak measurements, the group of committed scientists proved step-by-step, over forty years, how finch beaks change in response to their environment.

Snippet:

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

The author, Loree Griffin Burns, is one of my former students.
Copyright © 2026 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved. (*bookstore affiliate)

Posted on

Color in Nature: Secrets of Animal Survival

Color in Nature: Secrets of Animal Survival
by Stephen Aitken (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Animals like rainbow-colored parrots, red-nosed mandrills and brilliant blue peacocks use their vibrant colors to survive. Golden finches, bright blue mandarin fish and orange poison dart frogs use their colors to get noticed. Arctic foxes and octopuses change their colors to blend into their habitats. Birds, mammals, frogs, fish, reptiles and insects use a full palette of color to defend themselves, hunt for food, attract mates, hide from predators and often to stand out from their rivals. But even with the power of color on their side, many of these species, their habitats and food sources are under threat. We need to conserve the entire spectrum of the animal world to maintain a healthy and colorful planet for all life on Earth.

Snippet:

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

The author, Stephen Aitken, is one of my former students.
Copyright © 2026 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved. (*bookstore affiliate)

Posted on

Apollo 11 and Artemis II Activities for Classrooms and Libraries

Printable Man on the Moon activities are in a Beacon Library app in the cloud.

  • Click here and a new screen will open the Beacon Library app.
  • Enter your contact info and the Beacon Library app will email you a download link.
  • Print the activities on 8.5×11″ paper in full-color or gray-scale (black ink only).
  • Clicking each underlined NASA on “Then and Now” PDF will take you to each multimedia site.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Copyright © 2026 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

How Do You Eat Color?

How Do You Eat Color?
by Mabi David (Author), Yas Doctor (Illustrator), Karen Llagas (Translator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Do you know how red tastes? What about blue, orange, purple, or even white? As a boy, a girl, and their chameleon go through their day, they meet a bounty of colorful fruits and vegetables. They wake up with bright tomatoes and hibiscus, taste sunshine in yellow pineapples and mangoes, yawn with purple yams, and drift off to sleep as the colors darken to black. (Translated from Filipino)

Snippet:

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Copyright © 2025 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Zero! The Number That Almost Wasn’t

Zero! The Number That Almost Wasn’t
by Sarah Albee (Author) and Chris Hsu (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: How did math work before zero existed? This nonfiction book unpacks a fascinating history of a number we can’t imagine our current world without.

Snippet:

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Copyright © 2025 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Nature’s Tiny Champions

Nature’s Tiny Champions: The Big Book of Little Creatures Doing Mighty Things
by Ben Lerwill (Author) and Nic Jones (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Featuring 20 little animals, from the nocturnal dung beetle, cape dwarf chameleon, and golden poison frog to the bumblebee bat, reef starfish, and bee hummingbird, this oversized nonfiction guide reveals how even the tiniest insects, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds can play key roles in natural phenomena such as migration, food chains, and pollination.

Snippet:

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Copyright © 2025 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

My First Town

My First Town: A Building Block Book
by Merrill Rainey (Author / Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Watch as young minds come alive as they pop out pieces, then fold and glue together a town filled with buildings, vehicles, and friendly faces.

Snippet:

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Copyright © 2025 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Blossom Origami

Blossom Origami
by Clover Robin (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: With 13 nature-inspired origami step-by-step patterns, this activity book has origami inspiration, original art, and extracts from well-loved nature poems, as well as 50 sheets of origami paper. The three difficulty levels are clearly marked and the QR code links aspiring origami artists to how-to videos that cover all pieces and steps in the book.

Snippet:

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Copyright © 2025 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.