SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: ZAP! CLAP! BOOM!
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: www.laurasalas.com
CITY: Minneapolis
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 370
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1966, in FL; married; husband’s name Randy; children: Annabelle, Maddie.
EDUCATION:B.A. (English).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author and educator. Former magazine editor; taught middle-grade English for two years. Speaker at schools and conferences; presenter of inservices promoting poetry in the classroom and library.
AVOCATIONS:Zumba, yoga, reading, Scrabble and other board games, working out, Rock Band.
AWARDS:Minnesota Book Award finalist and Honor Book designation, Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, both 2010, both for Stampede! illustrated by Steven Salerno; Minnesota Book Award, Best Books selection, Bank Street College of Education, Notable Book selection, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and Honor Book citation, Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Awards, all 2011, all for BookSpeak! illustrated by Josée Bisaillon, Minnesota Book Award finalist, Golden Kite Honor Book selection, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Bill Martin, Jr., Picture Book Award finalist, Best Books selection, Bank Street College of Education, and NCTE Notable Book selection, all 2012, for A Leaf Can Be … illustrated by Violeta Dabija; Riverby Award for nature writing, 2021, for Secrets of the Loon.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals, including Highlights for Children and Spider.
SIDELIGHTS
Using engaging rhyme, Laura Purdie Salas shares her many interests with young readers in books that explore subjects from colors to school to books themselves. The natural world figures prominently in many of Salas’s picture-book texts, and her topics include the diversity of animals, the environment, and weather. In addition to poetry collections such as And Then There Were Eight: Poems about Space, A Fuzzy-fast Blur: Poems about Pets, and Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, Salas has also contributed to book series that include “Animals All Around,” “Amazing Science,” and “Science Songs.”
And Then There Were Eight, which focuses on astronomy, is characteristic of Salas’s work in its use of a range of poetic forms, such as limerick, free verse, cinquain, and acrostic. Praising the collection’s descriptive verses in Booklist, John Peters recommended And Then There Were Eight as a “versatile” work that could be used in “both science and language-arts” studies. In Stampede! her poetry pairs with Steven Salerno’s cartoon drawings to highlight the habits shared by young school children and animals. Like a swarm of bees, children buzz around on the playground while waiting for the school doors to open, and they arrive at lunch as hungry as bears, Salas observes. Her eighteen “wild” poems “are positively shot through with simile and metaphor,” according to Peters, and in School Library Journal, Marilyn Taniguchi praised the pairing of Salerno’s “whimsical pictures” with Salas’s “child-friendly verses.”
Referencing Salas’s “Science Songs” series, which includes Are You Living? A Song about Living and Non-living Things, Home on the Earth: A Song about Earth’s Layers, and Move It! Work It! A Song about Simple Machines, Ragan O’Malley explained in School Library Journal that each volume presents “basic science concepts” and reinforces them using “the tunes of well-known songs.” For example, Are You Living? is set to the tune of “Are You Sleeping?” and features digital artwork by Viviana Garofoli. The book’s lyrics reveal the general characteristics of a living organism, while fact boxes provide science-hungry readers with detailed information. In her review in Booklist, Kristen McKulski recommended Are You Living? for its ability to “inject a little life and creativity into beginning science studies.”
Salas’s “Alphabet Fun” series includes P Is for Pom Pom! A Cheerleading Alphabet, S Is for Score! A Sports Alphabet, and Y Is for Yowl! A Scary Alphabet. In Y Is for Yowl! she pairs photographs of unsettling objects—ranging from aliens and bats to quicksand and lightning—with a brief, child-friendly text. According to Booklist critic Daniel Kraus, with its “impressive grimness,” Y Is for Yowl! “could inspire creative ideas around Halloween time.”
Rhyming couplets explore the varied functions plants can perform in A Leaf Can Be … , and illustrations by Violeta Dabija help illuminate rhymes as well as the detailed scientific explanations Salas also includes. In Water Can Be … she takes a similar look at all the forms and uses of water. A “gentle celebration of nature,” according to a Kirkus Reviews critic, A Leaf Can Be … helps to “reinforce the cyclical nature of the seasons.” “While this poetic text concerns concepts rather than narrative, the changing seasons create an underlying structure,” noted Booklist critic Carolyn Phelan, the critic recommending the same book as “a great read-aloud choice for fall story hours and classroom units on leaves.” “The simple text and spot-on rhymes belie the sophistication of the inherent message behind the verse—water is a life-giver,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews critic in discussing Water Can Be … . Nancy Jo Lembert maintained in School Library Journal that the book “lets young readers quench their thirst for rhyme and information at the same time.”
A Rock Can Be … follows in the same vein of the two previous books. The book discusses types of rocks, where they can be found, and what they can be used for. School Library Journal writer Blair Christolon asserted: “Listeners … absorb delicious synonyms and adjectives for a rock.” “The economy of language and breadth of imagination suggests a broad audience for this wide-ranging and inventive exploration,” commented a contributor to Kirkus Reviews.
Salas pays tribute to the power of reading in BookSpeak! Poems about Books, which earned a Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award honor citation. Inviting youngsters to share in the experience of reading, her “polished verse demonstrates a deep love for all aspects of books, from their content to their creators,” as a Publishers Weekly critic observed. Constructed using a variety of poetic forms, the verses here “are, by turns, philosophical, humorous, and even instructional,” noted Donna Cardon in School Library Journal, the critic adding that “all are well crafted and clever, covering a variety of aspects of books and reading.”
If You Were the Moon is a standalone poetry book by Salas. It finds a girl in conversation with the moon, which she is viewing through a telescope. In an interview with Linda Ashman, contributor to the Picture Book Builders website, Salas commented on the origins of the book, stating: “I just think the moon is magnificent, and this project started out as strictly a ‘Things to Do If You Are the Moon’ poem to honor the moon. This poem form is a metaphorical list poem written to an inanimate object, and I love writing them. I already had in mind the scientific prose sidebars, as my dad spent most of his career at NASA, and I love science, too.” In an assessment of the book in School Library Journal, Suzanne LaPierre called it “both a wonderful bedtime read and a versatile early science resource for young children in group settings.” “Salas and Kim [the book’s illustrator] provide a great addition to a nighttime-window reading shelf and/or early-science classroom,” suggested a Kirkus Reviews writer.
Household objects come to life in In the Middle of the Night: Poems from a Wide-Awake House. “Familiar objects, playful language, and imaginative action add up to a collection that will amuse young listeners,” asserted a critic in Kirkus Reviews.
Snowman—Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations includes poems structured in the form of math equations. Otters, snow, dandelions, and skunks are among the images that appear in the book. Carolyn Phelan, reviewer in Booklist, described the book as “a handsome, original book for reading aloud each spring.” “All in all … beautifully original art complements the fun of the playful poetry,” commented a Kirkus Reviews contributor.
In Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons, Salas presents poems about winter, spring, summer, and fall. A Kirkus Reviews writer described the volume as “richly rewarding and clever: a visually arresting, inventive treatment of a popular subject.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly praised “the book’s meditative tone and resonant images.”
Crayola Wild World of Animal Colors is a nonfiction book in which the various hues displayed by animals are identified. Kathia Ibacache, reviewer in School Library Journal, described the volume as “a vibrant informational picture book that will encourage primary grade readers to learn about the use of colors in animals’ anatomy.”
Animal families from twenty-three species are featured in Meet My Family! Animal Babies and Their Families. In an interview with Melissa Stoller, which appeared on Stoller’s website, Salas stated: “ Meet My Family! came about because of shame and love. I was always ashamed as a kid because my family was so different from my friends’ families. We had all sorts of strict rules (five hours of TV per week maximum, couldn’t spend the night at a friend’s house because then they would expect to be invited to sleep over at our house, etc.), and I also had a sister with a brain disorder (now known to be OCD). … Trying to pretend my family was ‘normal’ took a lot of energy and secrecy.” Salas told Ashman, the contributor to the Picture Book Builders website: “It’s a look at diversity in the animal kingdom (and its implied counterpart in the human world). I want kids to know there is no RIGHT kind of family, and who better than cute baby animals to point that out?”
Reviewing Meet My Family! in School Library Journal, Gloria Koster described it as “a pleasing choice for young nonfiction enthusiasts that belongs on most elementary shelves.” “Supported by helpful backmatter including a simple map, this will interest animal-fact lovers and primary classroom teachers alike,” remarked a critic in Kirkus Reviews.
From eating their fill, to hitting the proverbial hay, to heading south for a while, Salas covers all the strategies animals use to greet the seasonal cold in Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready for Winter. Creatures ranging from worm, butterfly, mouse, and chipmunk to snake, fox, bear, and moose—as well as a human or two—are depicted in their natural habitats as they cope with dropping temperatures and the onset of ice and snow. Appreciating Salas’s seamless inclusion of fast facts, School Library Journal reviewer Nancy Call affirmed that the rhyming text is “mellifluous” in this “well-organized, clearly written, and delightfully illustrated work. Too charming to miss.”
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We Belong uses Salas’s rhyming verse and Carlos Vélez Aguilera’s rich illustrations to describe the tremendous variety and diversity of people in the world. Some of the distinctions involve people’s height or how loud they are, but Salas also explores skin color, body types, disabilities, and religious beliefs. The reviewer for Kirkus Reviews wrote that We Belong is “an upbeat, empowering celebration of human diversity,” and they appreciated the message, backed up by the illustrations, that “all are equal and belong on this beautiful planet.” The reviewer for Children’s Bookwatch concurred, calling the book “fun and entertaining” and a “welcome and recommended addition” to library bookshelves.
Zip! Clap! Boom!: The Story of a Thunderstorm uses poetic text to describe how a thunderstorm occurs and how children react to it. Beginning with a sunny day, the book chronicles how a storm brews and builds until it becomes a fierce downpour filled with wind and lightning. Illustrations from Elly MacKay use a combination of digital paint and paper collage to accompany Salas’s words in this picture-book introduction to the science of weather.
Carolyn Phelan, in Booklist, called this outing an “informative read-aloud” that will encourage children to “chime in on the repeated zaps, claps, and booms.” Phelan was particularly taken with MacKay’s illustrations that “beautifully capture both the changing weather phenomena and the children’s reactions.” The reviewer for Kirkus Reviews wrote that the book is a “crashing success” that “offers both eye-widening drama and lessons in atmospheric phenomena.”
Puddle Song is a board book devoted to the joys of splashing in puddles, as Salas imagines the puddle calling to children to come and have fun even on a rainy day. Her poetic text is accompanied by Monique Felix’s crayon and watercolor illustrations. The result is an evocative celebration of a universal childhood activity. “A rhyming, lyrical ode to the joy of puddles” is how the reviewer for Kirkus Reviews described the book. They praised the book’s “simple lilting text” that is “full of satisfying phrases,” and noted that the book introduces a number of “rich vocabulary words.”
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In a rare departure from her nonfiction and poetry, Salas wrote the story book Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata. Clover Kitty is nervous about her first day at kindergarten, and sure enough, the sun is too bright, the bell is too loud, and the smell of the teacher’s perfume is too strong. Although Oliver befriends her and tries to help her cope, Clover Kitty gets overwhelmed, ends the day with a hissy fit, and spends the next few days hiding in bed. With Oliver’s friendship waiting, Clover Kitty finally makes it back to school on Friday with a few props to help her get through the day.
Reviewers of Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten appreciated Salas’s compassionate treatment of a character with high sensitivity. In School Library Journal, Martha Rico observed that “young readers will identify with Clover’s feelings about starting school or any new adventure.” A Kirkus Reviews writer added that “those with sensory issues or those attending school with them may learn from these kitties’ examples.”
[OPEN NEW]
Salas continued in the picture book vein with If You Want to Knit Some Mittens. It is a book about the eighteen steps one needs to follow to knit yourself (or someone else) some mittens. The first step is to bring home a sheep. The playful story cheekily never actually explains how to knit. Instead, it focuses on tasks leading up to that such as washing and carding and spinning, with the sheep and other farm animals often getting in the way. The themes of patience, friendship, and creativity ground the tale.
“An appealing picture book” is how Carolyn Phelan described If You Want to Knit Some Mittens for Booklist. She appreciated the “playful tone” and Angela Matteson’s “colorful, occasionally madcap illustrations.” The reviewer for Kirkus Reviews agreed, calling the book an “enjoyably crafty excursion” with “sprightly, colorful illustrations.”
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“I always knew I loved to read, but I never even knew as a kid that writing was something you could do for a living,” Salas once told SATA. “I meet so many writers who knew they were writers practically from when they were in diapers. Not me! I didn’t really discover how much I loved writing until I was in college. I was in the veterinary medicine program, but my first creative-writing class set me on the track to becoming a writer.
“I wrote for adults for a while, but later I discovered that kids are a much better audience! Books were the world I lived in as a kid, and I love writing books for today’s kids. I write lots of nonfiction and enjoy that, but poetry is my absolute favorite thing to write. One of the things I love about poetry is that it’s short and accessible for every kid. Whether you like silly or serious or scary stuff, there are poems out there that are just right for you!”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 1, 2009, Kristen McKulski, review of Are You Living? A Song about Living and Non-living Things, p. 62; May 1, 2009, John Peters, review of Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, p. 84; October 1, 2009, Daniel Kraus, review of Y Is for Yowl! A Scary Alphabet, p 82; March 15, 2012, Carolyn Phelan, review of A Leaf Can Be … , p. 66; March 1, 2014, Carolyn Phelan, review of Water Can Be … , p. 64; January 1, 2018, Maggie Reagan, review of Meet My Family! Animal Babies and Their Families, p. 80; January 1, 2019, Carolyn Phelan, review of Snowman—Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations, p. 72; October 1, 2021, Carolyn Phelan, review of If You Want to Knit Some Mittens, p. 72; January 1, 2023, Carolyn Phelan, review of Zap! Clap! Boom!: The Story of a Thunderstorm, p. 55.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, April, 2012, Hope Morrison, review of A Leaf Can Be … , p. 421.
Children’s Bookwatch, April, 2022, review of We Belong.
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2009, review of Stampede!; January 15, 2012, review of A Leaf Can Be … ; February 15, 2014, review of Water Can Be … ; December 15, 2014, review of A Rock Can Be … ; December 1, 2016, review of If You Were the Moon; January 1, 2018, review of Meet My Family!; December 15, 2018, review of Snowman—Cold = Puddle; December 15, 2018, review of In the Middle of the Night: Poems from a Wide-Awake House; February 1, 2019, review of Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons; June 1, 2020, review of Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten; October 1, 2021, review of If You Wan to Knit Some Mittens; January 15, 2022, review of We Belong; December 1, 2022, review of Zap! Clap! Boom!: The Story of a Thunderstorm; December 15, 2022, review of Finding Family; December 15, 2022, review of Puddle Song.
Publishers Weekly, October 17, 2011, review of BookSpeak! Poems about Books, p. 67; January 28, 2019, review of Lion of the Sky, p. 95; January 28, 2019, review of Snowman—Cold = Puddle, p. 95.
School Library Journal, December, 2003, Carol Fazioli, review of The Trail of Tears, 1838, p. 174; January, 2008, Nancy Kunz, review of Scrapbooking for Fun!, p. 142; May, 2008, John Peters, review of And Then There Were Eight: Poems about Space, p. 117; January, 2009, Donna Cardon, review of Chatter, Sing, Roar, Buzz: Poems about the Rain Forest, p. 94; May, 2009, Ragan O’Malley, review of Are You Living?, and Marilyn Taniguchi, review of Stampede!, both p. 97; December, 2011, Donna Cardon, review of BookSpeak!, p. 104; March, 2012, Roxanne Burg, review of A Leaf Can Be … , p. 134; March, 2014, Nancy Jo Lambert, review of Water Can Be … , p. 176; January, 2015, Blair Christolon, review of A Rock Can Be … , p. 87; May, 2017, Suzanne LaPierre, review of If You Were the Moon, p. 68; December, 2017, Gloria Koster, review of Meet My Family!, p. 120; July, 2018, Kathia Ibacache, review of Crayola Wild World of Animal Colors, p. 90; September, 2019, Nancy Call, review of Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready for Winter, p. 140; June, 2020, Martha Rico, review of Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten, p. 53.
ONLINE
Blissfully Bookish, https://lydialukidis.wordpress.com (March 23, 2022), Lydia Lukidis, author interview.
Children’s Book Review, https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/ (August 6, 2020), “My Writing and Reading Life with Laura Purdie Salas.”
GROG, https://groggorg.blogspot.com/ (March 16, 2017), author interview.
Laura Purdie Salas website, https://laurasalas.com (March 17, 2021).
Lerner Blog, https://lernerbooks.blog (June 1, 2023), author interview.
Melissa Stoller website, https://www.melissastoller.com/ (March 5, 2018), Melissa Stoller, author interview.
Picture Book Builders, https://picturebookbuilders.com/ (August 22, 2017), Linda Ashman, author interview.
Poetry Foundation website, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/ (March 17, 2021), author profile.*
Renner Writes, https://www.rennerwrites.com (March 26, 2023), author interview.
Laura Purdie Salas – Short Bios
For children’s events: Minnesota author Laura Purdie Salas has written more than 130 books, including Lion of the Sky, Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten, and Snowman-Cold=Puddle. Laura loves nature, donuts, and playing with words. She also loves to get kids excited about reading and writing. For more info, please visit laurasalas.com.
For educators’ events: Former teacher Laura Purdie Salas believes reading small picture books and poems can have a huge impact on your life. She has written more than 130 books for kids, including Lion of the Sky (Kirkus Best Books and Parents Magazine Best Books of the Year), the Can Be… series (Bank Street Best Books, IRA Teachers’ Choice), and BookSpeak! (Minnesota Book Award, NCTE Notable). Laura shares inspiration and practical tips with educators about poetry, nonfiction, and more. Visit Laura at laurasalas.com.
For writers’ events: Laura Purdie Salas has written more than 125 books for kids, including Meet My Family!, If You Were the Moon, Water Can Be…, and BookSpeak! Her books have earned the Minnesota Book Award, NCTE Notables, starred reviews, and more. She offers resources for children’s writers at https://laurasalas.com/writing-for-children/. She enjoys teaching and speaking at writing conferences around the country. laurasalas.com
Who Am I?
Hi! I’m primarily a kids’ writer who loves to write poetry, nonfiction, and picture book fiction. You can check out my books here! I’m grateful that my books have received some lovely honors.
I write for kids because books were the air that I breathed when I was a kid. They were my world, my escape. This may sound sappy, but no matter what my topic or market, I love contributing to the safe world of books that I believe all kids need.
Poetry is my absolute favorite thing to write! I write snappy verse, nonfiction poems, funny middle-grade poems, and some serious poems, too. I have a blast trying out different poetic forms. My poems have appeared in books, magazines, websites, traveling art exhibits, and testing materials.
Nonfiction runs a close second. For nonfiction, I write mostly for elementary school kids. My books explore all sorts of topics — from loons to the moon.
In addition to writing, I do lots of word-related things: speak at writing conferences, do school visits and Young Authors Conferences, do freelance copyediting and writing, and more. It’s a crazy quilt of a career!
Here’s a bit from a 2020 blog tour post. Click here for an easier-to-read pdf version
How Laura Became a Writer
Laura (sitting on the floor) with her bossy big sisters, Patty, Gail, and Janet
Me (on floor) & my sisters
As a kid, I devoured books. Lots of books. My big sisters, Gail, Patty, and Janet, taught me to read when I was 4, and I read for hours every day, despite constant orders from my parents to “Go outside and get some fresh air!” Since I grew up in Florida, I heard these dreaded words all year long. If I was forced outside, I climbed up to the treehouse or lay on the trampoline, reading.
Books were like pieces of magic, conjured up to entertain me, keep me company, and show me the whole world before disappearing into the library return drop as if they had never existed. It never occurred to me that real people actually wrote those books.
This was my favorite reading chair when I was a kid. Apparently, it wasn't bad for napping, either!
My favorite reading chair
College was the first time I considered a career in the publishing field. After graduating with an English degree, I worked as a magazine editor, writing occasional freelance articles for newspapers and other magazines on health and education topics. Then I taught 8th-grade English for two years and rediscovered my love for children’s literature. I focused on writing for kids and never looked back.
Laura and Family - The Weird Version - August 2015
Me and my wacky family
Today, I’m still a fanatic reader, and I’m thrilled to be a writer, too. All the things I wanted to do when I grew up–studying animals, traveling to exotic places, figuring out people’s minds, answering all the questions that occur to me, like Where do mountains come from—are wrapped up into my writing. I love living in Minnesota and writing about anything that catches my interest.
I get lots of ideas from my daughters, Annabelle and Maddie, and my supportive husband, Randy. It’s never the ideas they suggest I write about; it’s the funny things they do that get my brain moving.
Awards and Honors for Laura’s Work
If You Want to Knit Some Mittens
Nominated by Tennessee librarians for the Volunteer State Book Award
Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten
Complex Chinese edition
Secrets of the Loon
Winner of the 2021 Riverby Award for nature writing; 2020 Bank Street Best Books; Jeanette Fair Book Award Nominee; Northeast Minnesota Book Award Nominee
Lion of the Sky
Booklist starred review; Kirkus starred review; Parents Magazine Best Kids’ Books of 2019; Kirkus Best Picture Books of 2019; Horn Book‘s Top Ten Books for Summer Reading; NCTE Poetry Notables; Center for Children’s Books Gryphon Honor Book
Snowman-Cold=Puddle
Junior Library Guild selection; New York Public Library’s Best Books for Kids 2019; NCTE Poetry Notables; Korean edition; bilingual Chinese edition
In the Middle of the Night
NCTE Poetry Notables
Meet My Family!
Wisconsin State Reading Association Picture This pick
If You Were the Moon
Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Primary Book; finalist for the 2018 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize in Science Children’s Books; New York Public Library Best Books for Kids 2017; Scholastic Book Club Edition; Japanese edition; Texas Library Association Texas Topaz Reading List for nonfiction gems
Water Can Be…
Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended title; starred reviews in Kirkus and Publishers Weekly; Minnesota Book Award Finalist; Texas Library Association’s 2×2 List; ALSC’s Building Steam with Dia book list; Houston ISD Name That Book Contest; RIF’s 2015 Multicultural Booklist; Nerdy Award for Poetry; Finalist for KRA’s Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award; Chinese, Korean, and Thai Editions
A Leaf Can Be…
Bank Street Best Books; IRA Teachers’ Choice; NCTE Notable Children’s Book; Minnesota Book Award Finalist; Scholastic Book Club selection; Riverby Award for Nature Books for Young Readers; SCBWI Golden Kite Honor Book; Finalist for KRA’s Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award; Scholastic Book Club Edition; Chinese, Korean, and Thai Editions
BookSpeak! Poems About Books
Minnesota Book Award; NCTE Notables; Bank Street Best Books; Librarians’ Choice; Eureka! Gold Medal; Honor Book – Gelett Burgess Award; White Ravens; Nerdy Award for Poetry
Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School
Minnesota Book Award Finalist; Honor Book, Paterson Prize for Books for Young People
Write Your Own Poetry
Association of Educational Publishers Distinguished Achievement Award Winner
Eight Great Planets!
American Astronautical Society Eugene M. Emme Jr. Award
Picture Yourself Writing Poetry
International Reading Association Teachers′ Choices List; TriState Young Adult Review Committee Books of Note
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Laura Purdie Salas, Children’s Author & Speaker
Posted on March 26, 2023 by Barbara
As I was scrolling through Twitter one day, I came across an image of a duckling riding on the back of a loon. It was the cover of a book! A book about how a pair of Common Loons adopted an orphaned Mallard Duckling, two species who normally don’t get along. I remember seeing this true wildlife story that was observed on a lake in northern Wisconsin. I read more about this unlikely pair and was intrigued. My friends told me, “Barb, you should write a picture book about this.” Yes, indeed, I should, but someone beat me to it. This someone is Laura Purdie Salas, children’s author, poet, speaker, and creator of educational materials for teachers.
I contacted Laura to see if I could interview her for my blog, and she agreed. I’m so excited she said “yes” because she is such an interesting lady, and all-around nice person.
TREADMILL WRITER
Barb: Tell us a little bit about yourself and include a tidbit of information not many people know about you.
Laura Purdie Salas on treadmill
Laura: Ooh, let’s see. I’m a native Floridian who hates hot weather and moved to Minnesota with my husband in 1990. We adore it. I’m an odd combination of analytical (give me a good chart and to-do list and I’m happy) and swoony. A picture book or poem can make me cry. I want to make picture books that make a difference for kids in some small way. And I want to make a living through writing and writing-adjacent activities. So…lots of dichotomies. Oh, and I love donuts and ridiculously sweet treats. Lots of them. Something not loads of people know is that I write at a treadmill desk set-up.
FINDING FAMILY
Barb: You are going to be launching three books in March 2023. Tell us about Finding Family.
Finding Family
Laura: Finding Family is a nonfiction book that was suggested by a Lerner editor I’ve worked with on 7 or 8 other books. This was the first time she’s suggested a topic, and I was a little panicky. What if I hated the story? What if she hated the story? But as I wrote my way into this story of mated loons who lost their chicks raising a mallard duckling who lost its family, I grew a deep connection with this story. It has a couple of big ideas that I value a lot. One is that you can do things you aren’t supposed to be able to do. A mallard duckling shouldn’t be able to dive for food and take on a loon lifestyle. Their bodies aren’t built for it. But she did. That resonates with me as someone who moved out of her parents’ home at 16 and put herself through college. Even though my parents were sure I’d fail utterly.
And the other is that sometimes we find what we need right in front of us, even if it’s not what we plan or think we want. I’m a mom of a daughter with major medical needs, a person who can too graphically imagine every terrible possibility, and a reader who can quickly become overwhelmed with all the tragedies of our world. I often find I need to focus on right here, right now. Finding Family is a true story of right here, right now. It’s animals who need each other finding each other and spending one sparkling summer together—with no guarantees of a future.
EDUCATOR RESOURCES
Barb: Tell us about your connections with educators.
Laura: I taught 8th-grade English for a couple of years, and I have so much gratitude and respect for educators! School was my happy place as an elementary school kid, and I was much happier there than at home. Because I write a lot of poetry and nonfiction—both of which are largely marketed to schools and libraries, educators are a big audience for my books. They’re the ones most likely to share the books I create with kids. So I create materials for educators, go to some educator conferences, and basically have a community of educator friends. The ones who are equally passionate about books and about kids—those are amazing people! If I wrote mainly more commercial picture books that were “bedtime” or “storytime” books, I guess parents would make up a larger part of my audience. But I’m often thinking about how teachers could use my books in their classrooms.
NEWSLETTERS
Barb: You send out newsletters. Tell us what topics you cover and how to subscribe.
Laura: I have a monthly e-letter called ‘Small Reads,’ and it’s geared at educators of all kinds—teachers, librarians, homeschoolers, etc. Each month, I write one main article. Let’s see, some of the topics I’ve covered in the past year are:
using We Belong and other picture books as a springboard into conversations around hard topics
sharing a roundup of my poems that are free online and have a spring theme
a thank you poem to educators for things they did over the pandemic
growing world citizens
3 of my favorite poetry lessons with students
You and I, we’re alike,
but we’re different too.
That’s not good.
That’s not bad.
It’s just what is true.
-Laura Purdie Salas
You can click here to subscribe.
NEW AUTHOR ADVICE
Barb: Do you have any advice for someone who is starting out as a new author?
Laura: Here’s what served me the best when I first started having books published. Keep improving my writing craft, largely through 1) analyzing books I love, 2) courses/conferences, 3) writing a lot—so much that even when only 10% of it was worth deep revision and submission, it was worth the other 90%, and 4) building a writing community, both in-person and online. As an introvert, I struggle with the in-person part. But my kidlit community is a large part of my being able to sustain a writing career!
SPARE TIME
Barb: Tell us what you do in your spare time. (Let me guess. Does it involve donuts?)
Laura Purdie Salas likes to eat donuts
Read in spare time
Laura: I read. A lot. I also knit rather badly, play kalimba equally badly—but enjoy both immensely. I watch too much T.V. (Great Pottery Throw Down, anyone? Great British Baking Show? Secret Life of the Zoo?) I love to go for long walks. And I love to play games. My husband and I play Scrabble, Five Dive, and Columns daily. Plus we have regular family game nights, and I meet up with friends for games. I also go to the gym to offset some of the donuts!
NEW BOOKS
Barb: Tell us what you are working on now.
Laura: Right now, my life is all about promotion for my 3 2023 books (Finding Family, Puddle Song, and Zap! Clap! Boom!—the last one written in 2008 and finally becoming a picture book in 2023!). Plus back matter, art feedback, and some final revisions on my 3 2024 books (Oskar’s Voyage, Superhero Tryouts, and one without a final title at this point). Between all of those and a lot of speaking and freelance writing gigs this spring, I’m lucky to grab 30 minutes daily on my own writing projects. During that precious time, I’m working on 2 Christmas-related manuscripts and a manuscript about a walk in the forest.
New Book Zap! Clap! Boom!
New book Finding Family
New book Puddle Song
New books by Laura Purdie Salas
STORY TIME AND BOOK LAUNCH
Story Time and launch party
If you are in the St. Paul, Minnesota area, be sure to meet Laura in person Saturday, April 1, 2023 at Red Balloon Bookshop when she launches her new books.
FOLLOW LAURA
You can follow Laura on the following social media sites:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraPSalas
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraPSalas/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurapsalas/Facebook
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@salaslp
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurasalas/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/salaslp/
MORE FROM LAURA PURDIE SALAS
Laura is very generous in helping authors and educators. Check out these resources:
Website: laurasalas.com See my annual income breakdown at
https://laurasalas.com/writing-for-children/how-much-money-does-a-childrens-writer-make/ .
Writer in Progress Facebook Group—subscription paid through Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/LauraPurdieSalas
(This is where I share my writing process, talk about the business side of things, answer writers’ questions, etc.)
THANK YOU LAURA
Thank you Laura for letting me interview you on my blog. To be honest, I’m exhausted after reading about everything you do, (maybe I need a donut), but I’m definitely a fan! I wish I could go to your book launch on April 1st, but I already ordered a signed copy of Finding Family for my very own.
LOON BOOKS
In case you’re wondering, I’ve written a few picture books about Loons myself. There are four books in my Lonnie the Loon series, and you can order them from my website.
I write monthly newsletters too. You can subscribe here and receive a digital copy of the “Puppy Wisdom” chapter from Larry’s Words of Wisdom.
Author Laura Purdie Salas on Finding the Right Structure- PLUS GIVEAWAY!
POSTED ON MARCH 23, 2022
Hello world!!
Welcome to my book blog, Blissfully Bookish. For this Q & A, please welcome author extraordinaire, Laura Purdie Salas. Not only is she one of my mentors, but I’m lucky enough to count her as one of my friends too. What I love about her is that she’s able to straddle both the worlds of fiction and nonfiction so effortlessly. I also love the depth behind her words. Here she is, discussing her new picture book We Belong, published by Carolrhoda Books / Lerner, and illustrated by Carlos Vélez Aguilera.
BUT first- YAY! Laura is generously giving away a FREE signed copy of Be Belong (US only). To be eligible to win, please enter the Rafflecopter contest by clicking HERE. Contest ends April 1, 2022.
Please describe the journey to publication for WE BELONG.
Well, this book is kind of a journey of pairs—besides the opposite pairs in the book. Editor Carol Hinz invited me (in 2018) to write a picture book on one topic. I slid sideways and wrote a picture book on a related topic. She rejected that book, but she loved one little snippet of it. She asked me to expand that book that snippet into an entire book of affirmations. Oh, maybe that’s a three. The manuscript I never wrote. The related manuscript I actually wrote (and still hope to sell). And then WE BELONG.
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Another pair was the concept of specific versus broad. It was a real challenge, but also satisfying, to illuminate broad concepts like loud and quiet or black and white, through specific, concrete images. Other pairs included two wonderful editors, Carol Hinz and Shaina Olmanson; two different illustrators (so happy with Carlos Vélez Aguilera’s vibrant art!); and two pub dates, since the pandemic pushed back publication of this book.
WE BELONG touches on the themes of celebrating how unique we each are, as well as honoring diversity in our world. What inspired you to write this?
I’m not sure I would have tackled this topic without an invitation. As a middle-class white woman in the United States, writing a book that includes various diversity issues feels a bit scary, honestly, like I have no right to talk about it. But the need for belonging is universal, and that’s the core of this book. I have felt that I didn’t belong so many times throughout my life, and I tried to hold that closely and examine what brings me comfort in those times.
Please paste a short and compelling excerpt from your book.
Maybe you’re happy.
A fun magic trick.
A sprinkler rainbow.
A kitten’s rough lick.
Maybe you’re sad.
A cloud.
A small cave.
Maybe you’re trying
your best to be brave.
Sometimes we’d like to make sadness extinct,
but teardrops and smiles are joined—
they are linked.
Each feeling’s a gift
that helps us connect
to the world,
to our family,
to the friends we collect.
You have a massive body of work. Can you please share some marketing secrets with readers? Which strategies have proven most successful?
[Laughing] Oh, how I wish I had the secret sauce to share with you. I am an introvert and not very inventive with social media. Because my picture books involve a lot of poetry and nonfiction, teachers and librarians are often the ones buying my books. So for me, connecting with educators, creating extension materials for my books, and putting myself out there at educator conferences have probably been the most helpful. But really, I believe this maxim: The best way to market your current book is to write your next book. I am trying to focus less on marketing and more on writing, because marketing tasks are like a dangerous gas—they expand to fill a whole room and leave little space for other things.
Do you have other WIPs or projects in the pipeline you would like to mention?
I do! Next year will be FINDING FAMILY, with Lerner. It’s a lyrical nonfiction book about an interspecies adoption event from a few years ago. And SUPERHERO TRYOUTS: POEMS FROM EYEGLASSES, WHEELCHAIRS, AND OTHER HELPERS will come out from Wordsong. After that, the next two are ZAP! CLAP! BOOM!, rhyming nonfiction from Bloomsbury USA, and OSKAR’S VOYAGE, from Minnesota Historical Society Press. That last one came out of my Great Lakes voyage in 2019 on the biggest freighter on the Lakes. I’m so excited to see what the illustrators do with all four of these books! I only have one or two other titles after that, and I sure would like to sell a trade manuscript or two this year!
Please share your favorite books from 2021 that inspired you.
What a lovely question! I thought this would be easy to answer, but my Goodreads lists show I loved many children’s books last year. So here are a few that I not only loved, but that inspired me in either my personal life or my writing life. They are LUBNA AND PEBBLE; PLAY LIKE AN ANIMAL!; I AM EVERY GOOD THING; GREEN ON GREEN; OUTSIDE, INSIDE; THE STUFF BETWEEN THE STARS; and WONDER WALKERS. (Not all of those came out in 2021—that’s just when I read them.)
What is the best piece of advice you would give to other writers when it comes to revision?
Don’t put the cart (fun, beautiful words) before the horse (strong structure or plot). Nobody cares how pretty that broken-down cart is when it’s not going anywhere.
That’s the lesson I have to learn over and over. I’m always so excited about the individual words, but writing my way into the right structure has to happen first.
And a bonus question just for kicks! If you could have dinner with any author, dead or alive, who would it be?
Nope. Nuh uh. An introvert like me would be EXTREMELY uncomfortable in this situation. I don’t want to meet musicians I like nor authors I admire—and I’m always afraid I’d like their work less if I really met them. However, I would love to be a fly on the wall of some favorite authors. I’m going to say Madeleine L’Engle for this one. Just me, sipping a Coke Zero and eavesdropping on her life—I would’ve jumped at that chance!
BIO
Laura Purdie Salas has written more than 130 books for kids, including If You Want to Knit Some Mittens, Lion of the Sky, Water Can Be…, and BookSpeak! Her books have earned the Minnesota Book Award, NCTE Notables, starred reviews, and more. She offers resources for children’s writers at https://www.laurasalas.com/writing-for-children/ and has a Facebook Group where she connects with her Patreon supporters. She enjoys teaching and speaking at writing conferences around the country. laurasalas.com
LINKS
site: https://laurasalas.com/
blog: https://www.laurasalas.com/blog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraPSalas
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraPSalas/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurapsalas/
Newsletter for educators: https://tinyurl.com/5a9ycnta
Patreon community for kidlit writers: https://www.patreon.com/LauraPurdieSalas
WE BELONG: AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR LAURA PURDIE SALAS
Explore and celebrate who you are and who others are too! The new picture book We Belong by Laura Purdie Salas and illustrated by Carlos Vélez Aquilera invites others to notice the diversity of our world and affirm that we all belong, just as we are.
Read today’s post to find out how Laura Purdie Salas began writing the book, the challenges of this project, and how to help others feel like they belong.
Where did the idea for this book come from?
The idea for We Belong actually came from editor Carol Hinz. In 2018, I sent her a manuscript that dealt with opposites and labels and how descriptions like big or small and black or white and happy or sad are awfully limiting when describing humans. At the end of that manuscript there was a little sign at a carnival that welcomed everyone. That bit rhymed, though the rest of the book didn’t. Carol rejected the manuscript, but said, “I love, love, love those two stanzas of rhyming verse you wrote for The Everyone Carnival! What would you think of potentially writing an affirming book for young children all in verse?” So I dove in!
Have you ever felt like you don’t belong?
In the moment, I have often felt like that, especially when I’ve been the new person. When my family moved after 7th grade…when my husband and I moved from Florida to Minnesota without knowing a soul up here…when I tried drum corps for the first time…when I went to my first writing conference. All of those times, I felt like everyone else all knew each other and knew what to do, and I felt like the oddball.
In a bigger sense, though, I always feel like I belong here in this world. Nature and books reinforce that feeling. When I’m sitting on rocks along Lake Superior or on my deck watching the quaking aspens—and of course when I’m with people I love—then I know I belong.
What was the hardest thing about writing this book?
The most difficult thing about writing We Belong was trying to be both universal and specific. I wanted every reader to be able to connect. But I wanted specific scenes and actions and sounds so that it wasn’t just an abstract concept. I didn’t want it to sound like a greeting card!
What’s your favorite part of the artwork?
I really adore Carlos Vélez Aguilera’s nighttime scenes. Those fireworks! And I love the spread that shows earth from space, when the kids are sitting in a planetarium. That spread holds the key to the book for me.
What do you hope young readers get from this book?
I hope they get a sense of perspective. It’s so hard to have perspective as a young kid. Seeing different places and meeting people who have lived different lives than you do gives you perspective. But most of us live in one place and hang out with people a lot like ourselves. Books give you a chance to eavesdrop on other people’s lives and think about what it would be like to be someone else. When we wonder about how life is for other people, we grow into better human beings.
What can we do to help people feel like they belong?
Smile and say hi! When you’re some place you’re comfortable, look for the new person. Make a point of saying hi and seeing if they have questions. I mean, it might even be somebody you already know, but it’s their first time at book club or volleyball practice or whatever. It’s such a small thing—smiling and saying hi. But it helps!
If You Want to Knit Some Mittens. By Laura Purdie Salas. Illus. by Angela Matteson. Oct. 2021. 32p. Boyds Mills & Kane/Boyds Mills, $17.99 (9781629795645). PreS-Gr. 2.
In a picture book with a rural setting, a girl offers advice for kids who, like her, want to knit mittens. It's a surprisingly lengthy process that unfolds in 18 steps (ironically including no knitting instructions) beginning with "Step 1: Get a sheep." While her father purchases apples from an orchard, she talks him into buying a sheep as well. Other steps involve sheep shearing, fleece washing, wool carding, spinning, dyeing, and eventually, "Get some knitting needles and learn to knit. Let your fingers fly. Click-clack! Slip-snip! Knit some mittens." In the final scene, the girl wears her mittens as she and her sheep sled down a snow-covered hill together. Throughout the story, the girl works hard, diligently following instructions, while the artwork reveals the rambunctious sheep, a piglet, and some chicks carrying out a series of shenanigans, just for fun. Salas' text sets a playful tone, and Matteson makes the most of it in the colorful, occasionally madcap illustrations. An appealing picture book about mitten making, with a good deal of merrymaking along the way.--Carolyn Phelan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Phelan, Carolyn. "If You Want to Knit Some Mittens." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 3, 1 Oct. 2021, p. 72. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A695507225/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b8a116ea. Accessed 20 May 2023.
Salas, Laura Purdie IF YOU WANT TO KNIT SOME MITTENS Boyds Mills (Children's None) $17.99 10, 26 ISBN: 978-1-62979-564-5
Colorful mittens require 18 steps of preparation, but they are a toasty warm reward.
A redheaded, pale-skinned, freckled kid and an older, bearded figure with the same coloring are at an apple stand when the kid spots a sheep--and home they all go in their pickup truck. The sheep spends the winter in a cozy red barn with a pig and a hen, playing games and snuggling under a blanket. Spring brings a shearing, followed by cleaning, carding, and spinning. By now the process for crafting a pair of mittens is up to step No. 8, which is selecting a color to dye the yarn. This requires planting and tending marigolds, the chosen color source. And this requires a long wait. Dyeing the wool, knitting the mittens, and enjoying the winter are the very enjoyable results. The sprightly, colorful illustrations portray a smiley kid and equally happy animal friends who sip drinks, jump rope, and go downhill skiing and sledding. (There is a disclaimer on the copyright page concerning any injuries that might occur should readers try this with their own sheep.) The notably helpful sheep at the end sports its own matching hat, complete with pompom. While the actual knitting is confined to a couple sentences, the author does show that the sheep-to-mittens hands-on process involves many steps. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An enjoyable crafty excursion. (Picture book. 4-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Salas, Laura Purdie: IF YOU WANT TO KNIT SOME MITTENS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A677072771/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8da4542e. Accessed 20 May 2023.
Salas, Laura Purdie WE BELONG Carolrhoda (Children's None) $17.99 3, 1 ISBN: 978-1-5415-9913-0
Jauntily rhyming text coupled with colorful, detailed digital illustrations outline the numerous types of people that inhabit the world.
Quiet and loud people "both deserve our applause." It doesn't really matter if someone is tall or short because "we're only each as high / as a small grain of sand / next to mountains or sky." Also noted and affirmed are differing personalities, body types, interests, persuasions, and emotions. A nature analogy is creatively used to explore skin color: "We all wear our skin just like trees wear their bark, in infinite shades between light and dark." Some people may be the color of "Oak," "Mahogany," or "Chestnut," and so on. Regarding gender diversity, the text proclaims: "There are boys. There are girls. / And even more choices. / Let's build a world where there is room for all voices." The overarching message that all are equal and belong on this beautiful planet Earth is enhanced by the final observation that when we learn from each other, we grow. Aguilera's vibrant colored pencil and digital media illustrations depict a variety of racially diverse children making music, flying kites, playing together, and more in various parts of their city, the residents of which include women and girls wearing hijabs, a Jewish man sporting a yarmulke, people using wheelchairs, people with disabilities, and a girl with cancer (not discussed in the text but cued in the artwork).
An upbeat, empowering celebration of human diversity. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Salas, Laura Purdie: WE BELONG." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A689340011/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=98166630. Accessed 20 May 2023.
We Belong
Laura Purdie Salas, author
Carlos Velez Aguilera, illustrator
www.laurasalas.com
CarolRhoda Books
c/o The Lerner Publishing Group
241 First Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1607
www.lernerbooks.com
9781541599130, $17.99, 32pp
https://www.amazon.com/We-Belong-Laura-Purdie-Salas/dp/1541599136
Synopsis: With the rhyming verse text by storyteller Laura Purdie Salas and the lively an d charming artwork of illustrator Carlos Velez Aguilera, young children will have fun exploring and celebrating who they are and who others are too in the new picture book "We Belong". Inviting children to notice the diversity of our world and affirm that we all belong, just as we are, "We Belong" features a diverse group of children, playing and learning in an urban setting.
Critique: A fun and entertaining picture book with its message of the value of friendship and diversity, "We Belong" is a welcome and recommended addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections for children ages 4-8. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "We Belong" is also available in a digital book format as well (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note #1: Laura Purdie Salas is the author of more than 130 books for kids, including If You Were the Moon, Water Can Be..., and Bookspeak! Poems about Books. Poetry and rhyming nonfiction books are her favorite things to write. Laura loves to do author visits, writing workshops, and teacher inservices. She maintains a website at www.laurasalas.com
Editorial Note #2: Carlos Velez Aguilera is a professional illustrator based in Mexico City, Mexico. He graduated from the National School of Plastic Arts and has illustrated more than twenty children's books including his graphic novel Salon Destino.
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/index.htm
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"We Belong." Children's Bookwatch, Apr. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A707299127/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=796d5d64. Accessed 20 May 2023.
Salas, Laura Purdie ZAP! CLAP! BOOM! Bloomsbury (Children's None) $18.99 3, 28 ISBN: 978-1-5476-0225-4
The buildup and arrival of a wild thunderstorm offers both eye-widening drama and lessons in atmospheric phenomena.
Three gracefully posed children, the eldest slightly darker-skinned than the younger pair, and a trio of goats cavort over island hills until a squall rises in the distance and sweeps violently in before they then venture outside again to enjoy a world made "dazzling, / sparkling, / fresher." Blending paper collage and digital paint, MacKay artfully captures the changing light on steep meadows as a "blue-forever day" gradually darkens under heavy, windswept clouds that "hover over, / tower, / loom, / then // ZAP! CLAP! BOOM!" before at last melting away to leave a sunny, washed world. For the story behind the storm, Salas switches from free verse to prose in the backmatter to explain in specific detail how cumulus clouds, various kinds of lightning, and thunder are produced before closing with leads to useful weather-related sites, books, and even time-lapse videos on the web. Arthur Geisert's Thunderstorm (2013) portrays a more massive tempest as a rural catastrophe; here, the swirling wind, torrential rain, and crashes of lightning are seen as a safely exciting but brief interlude in an otherwise serene setting. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A crashing success. (selected sources) (Informational picture book. 6-9)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Salas, Laura Purdie: ZAP! CLAP! BOOM!" Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729072533/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=951cc13c. Accessed 20 May 2023.
Zap! Clap! Boom! The Story of a Thunderstorm. By Laura Purdie Salas. Illus. by Elly MacKay. Mar. 2023.40p. Bloomsbury, $18.99 (9781547602254). PreS-Gr. 1.551.6.
It's a sunny morning. From a cluster of houses on a hilltop, three children make their way downward, watching puffy, white clouds form above them and listening to the breeze that begins to rustle the leaves. As the clouds grow taller and darker, the wind picks up. Rain begins to fall, and the children run for home, while goats take shelter in a shed. "Thunder rumbles. / When it comes, / it rolls, / it stomps, / it rattles, / drums. // A crackling, grumbling / sound of doom, / then ... II ZAP! / CLAP! / BOOM!" After the storm passes, all is calm and cleaner, fresher. The narrative evokes the sensory experiences of children observing a passing thunderstorm and uses imagery effectively to describe the beauty of nature in its wake: "Diamond drops / dress trees and vines. / Storm is over. // The world now shines." The fluid, rhyming text offers some basic facts about thunderstorms; the well-researched back matter presents a more detailed account. Combining traditional techniques on paper, three-dimensional layering of those images, and digital elements, McKay's illustrations beautifully capture both the changing weather phenomena and the children's reactions. An informative read-aloud choice for home or classroom, this picture book offers several opportunities for kids to chime in on the repeated zaps, claps, and booms.--Carolyn Phelan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Phelan, Carolyn. "Zap! Clap! Boom! The Story of a Thunderstorm." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 9-10, 1 Jan. 2023, p. 55. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A735624336/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9ab244b3. Accessed 20 May 2023.
Salas, Laura Purdie FINDING FAMILY Millbrook/Lerner (Children's None) $20.99 3, 7 ISBN: 978-1-72844-299-0
An orphaned duckling finds the perfect parents.
Salas spins a spare, credible backstory for a 2019 discovery by researchers of a pair of nesting loons in Wisconsin and their surprising baby--a mallard duckling. Their own young perhaps eaten by predators, the loons focus on a lone duck hatchling nearby and, over the course of the summer, provide the necessities: food and protection. Neonakis' straightforward, clean-lined illustrations offer a clear look at loons and the duckling: their distinguishing coloring and body shapes. The differences in the expected behavior of ducklings versus loon chicks are emphasized in the simple text and put readers in the role of observers. Loon chicks "take food from their parents," while mallards don't, and mallards don't dive for their food, "but Duckling does." While young loons typically hide upon seeing strange animals (loons are territorial, backmatter explains), Duckling makes a racket in one of the amusingly incongruous moments. Loon babies ride on the back of either parent while young, and the growing Duckling, its down turning to more substantial feathers, riding on a loon's back is sweetly funny. Backmatter expands the comparison of loon and mallard characteristics and behaviors. Salas offers a philosophical note about the inconclusive ending--loons and ducks migrate as the seasons turn, and it's not known what happened next--but leaves the thought that both the duckling and loon parents created a family together. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Engaging natural science for the very young. (bibliography, further reading) (Informational picture book. 3-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Salas, Laura Purdie: FINDING FAMILY." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729727446/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8aeb1ed6. Accessed 20 May 2023.
Salas, Laura Purdie PUDDLE SONG Creative Editions/Creative Company (Children's None) $9.99 3, 14 ISBN: 978-1-56846-383-4
A rhyming, lyrical ode to the joy of puddles.
A diverse group of children frolic, splash, and explore the drips and drizzle on a blustery day. We see galoshes, a raincoat, an umbrella, windy swirls, and even a playful pup and a rescued snail. Salas' simple, lilting text is full of satisfying phrases perfect for reading aloud like "stompers and jumpers" and "silver skin." In just a few short pages, there are plenty of rich vocabulary words: wind-rattled and rippling, for example. Felix's soft, detailed ink, watercolor, and crayon illustrations match the tone of the story. One impressive image shows a close-up of boots, midsplash in a puddle, the water spraying and droplets crashing like waves against the shore. Curiosity is apparent on the faces of the children, some in awe, others apprehensive, others still gleeful and carefree. The illustrations convey so much of little ones' inner naturalist and scientist. One child gingerly extends a leaf to rescue a snail from the middle of a large puddle. In another image, a group kneels beside the water, looking at their reflections, dipping in a toe, watching circles ripple out. The quality of the writing paired with the complementary skillful illustrations make this worthy of readers' bookshelves. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Vibrant text and images come together to celebrate a rainy day. (Board book. 0-2)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Salas, Laura Purdie: PUDDLE SONG." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729727450/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6bc5b79f. Accessed 20 May 2023.