SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Feel the Fog
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.aprilsayre.com/
CITY: South Bend
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 346
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born April 11, 1966, in Greenville, SC; daughter of David Clarence and Elizabeth Pulley; married Jeffrey Peter Sayre (an author and ecologist), 1989.
EDUCATION:Duke University, B.A., 1987; Vermont College, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. National Wildlife Federation, associate editor for school programs, 1988-91; author and video producer, beginning 1991. Presenter at schools.
AVOCATIONS:Travel, birdwatching, herb gardening, scuba diving.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, National Audubon Society, Nature Conservancy, American Birding Association.
AWARDS:John Burroughs Award, Best Books citation, School Library Journal, and Notable Books for Children citation, Smithsonian magazine, all 1995, all for If You Should Hear a Honeyguide; Best Books for the Teen Age selection, New York Public Library, 1996, for Endangered Birds of North America; Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children selection, National Science Teachers Association/Children’s Book Council, 1999, for Home at Last and 2001, for Dig, Wait, Listen; John Burroughs Award, 2001, for The Hungry Hummingbird; Riverbank Review Children’s Book of Distinction designation, 2002, for Dig, Wait, Listen; Bank Street College of Education Best Books designation, 2003, and Notable Book designation, American Library Association (ALA), 2004, both for One Is a Snail; John Burroughs Award, 2005, for The Bumblebee Queen; Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books, American Association for the Advancement of Science/Science Books & Films, and Notable Book designation, ALA, both 2005, both for Stars beneath Your Bed; Theodor Geisel Honor Book Award, ALA, and Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books finalist, both 2008, both for Vulture View; Best Book selection, Bank Street College of Education, 2010, for Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!; ALA Notable Book citation and NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book Award, both for Raindrops Roll.
WRITINGS
Contributor to World, Ranger Rick, Earth Explorer Encyclopedia (CD-ROM), and various educator’s guides and scientific curricula.
SIDELIGHTS
April Pulley Sayre is the author of dozens of science books for children, among them award-winning books in multivolume series and stand-alone titles. An adventurous person, “Sayre has followed lemurs in Madagascar, pursued army ants in Panama, and eaten piranha in the Peruvian Amazon,” as she revealed on her website. “I have always loved science and writing,” Sayre said in an interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith in Cynsations. “I’ve been passionate about nature, photography, and science since I was a very little girl. I cannot remember NOT loving these three. So I dreamed of working for National Geographic. But I also considered being a scientist,” Sayre told Carol Gordon Ekster in Writers’ Rumpus. “I had several forays into being a scientist but found I was better at communicating about science than doing it. Even in high school, as a member of the South Carolina Junior Academy of Science, my experiments were not the greatest.” She went on to study primatology at Duke University, where she received her bachelor’s degree. “I also trained to be a scientist,” she explained to Ekster, “but was even better at being the editor of the popularized science magazine, Vertices.”
Each of Sayre’s experiences has inspired and influenced her work, from story books such as Hush, Little Puppy and If You’re Hoppy to nonfiction picture books that include Trout Are Made of Trees and Best in Snow, to well-illustrated, fact-based references such as Endangered Birds of North America and her “Our Amazing Continents” series. “I love teaching kids about research and writing through school visits and week-long author-in-residence programs,” Sayre said in an interview with Michele Cusolito in Michele Cusolito, Polliwog on Safari. “Kids really are hungry to do good work and they embrace nonfiction research once they understand that you’re really asking them to think, to connect with their readers through specific facts, comparisons, and connections with readers’ lives. Someday I’d love to teach kids a workshop just focused on interviews; that work is so crucial to nonfiction research and the skills of asking questions and respecting an interviewee are worth teaching. That work can cross over into many areas of life.”
In her “Exploring Earth’s Biomes” series Sayre presents elementary-grade readers with information about the various habitats found on earth, and her “Seven Continents” series provides overviews on the geography, wildlife, and weather to be found on each of earth’s continent. Several critics singled out the author’s “lively and precise” writing style, to quote Booklist contributor Carolyn Phelan in a review of both Wetland and Lake and Pond. In a joint review of Coral Reef and Ocean for Voice of Youth Advocates, Mary Ojibway praised the “conversational style” in which Sayre presents both “clear, accurate information.”
Sayre is an avid bird watcher, as books such as If You Should Hear a Honeyguide, Hummingbirds: The Sun Catchers, The Hungry Hummingbird, Endangered Birds of North America, Bird, Bird, Bird! A Chirping Chant, and Vulture View each attest. In her picture books If You Should Hear a Honeyguide and Hummingbirds, she allows glimpses into the life of the birds mentioned, following them up with an author’s note to give more detailed information. According to Maryann H. Owen in School Library Journal, the artwork and easily accessible facts combine to make The Hungry Hummingbird “a winner” and a “pleasant, versatile book.” Written for somewhat older juvenile readers, Endangered Birds of North America presents information on the snail kite, Kirtland’s warbler, red-cockaded woodpecker, piping plover, and whooping crane, all in what Booklist critic Stephanie Zvirin called “a stimulating fashion.” In School Library Journal, Patricia Manning praised Sayre’s text for Endangered Birds of North America as “clear” and “readable,” and also remarked favorably on the photographs and maps.
Winner of the Theodor Geisel Honor Book award, Vulture View pairs Sayre’s text with collage art by award-winning illustrator Steve Jenkins to explore the life of a much-maligned bird. In addition, she discusses the way birds travel through the air on rising warm air and cooling sinking air. In what School Library Journal contributor Robin L. Gibson described as a “spare, rhyming text,” the author provides basic information about these much-maligned carrion eaters while Jenkins’s “dynamic” images “are often quite dramatic.” “Sayre’s text is positively gleeful” in depicting the lowly vulture “not as cartoon villains but as a necessary part of nature,” according to a Kirkus Reviews writer. As Cooper noted, author and illustrator “buoyantly approach” their unusual subject, “celebrating the majesty of an underappreciated creature” in a book combining “fascinating content and sprightly execution.” “Rarely has a book about these scavengers gotten such a gorgeous treatment,” Cooper added in a nod to Jenkins’s collage art.
Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!, Crocodile Listens, Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Toad’s Tale, and The Bumblebee Queen number among Sayre’s picture-book treatments of individual animal species. In the popular Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!, —which was published in two editions with different illustrations—she shows the life cycle of the sea turtle, “drawing readers into the turtle’s story without anthropomorphism,” wrote Phelan. Similarly, in Crocodile Listens she provides readers with a glimpse into the habitat of this dangerous African reptile, producing a work that a Kirkus Reviews contributor called “playful without being precious.” The only book for children that presents the life cycle of the desert-dwelling spadefoot toad, Dig, Wait, Listen features a text that Phelan described as “clear, precise, and poetic.”
Younger readers are introduced to selected species in the companion volumes Trout, Trout, Trout! A Fish Chant, Ant, Ant, Ant! An Insect Chant, Bird, Bird, Bird!, and Rah, Rah, Radishes! A Vegetable Chant. Sayre includes common names as well as assorted facts about each creature that are echoed in the books’ amusing art. “I am a word nut and those who know me laugh a lot in my presence,” the author told Cynthia Leitich Smith in Cynsations. “I believe this is because of the funny things that I say but perhaps my fashion needs help, too. The trout book began when I was in my office writing a lovely, lyrical book about fish in the sea. Then this scientist in rubber pants walked down the stream behind my house and he seemed to be having more fun. So I put on my waders and helped him survey fish and I discovered that fish names are just plain goofy.” Reviewing Ant, Ant, Ant! in School Library Journal, Carolyn Janssen wrote that Sayre’s “text and illustrations [by Trip Park] are a natural pairing for exploring the insect world.”
Illustrated by Huy Voun Lee with colorful cut-paper collage art, Honk, Honk, Goose! Canada Geese Start a Family serves up “a fun read-aloud grounded by great informational back matter,” according to Booklist critic Abby Nolan. Here Sayre’s expressive and animated rhymes chronicle the life cycle of one of North America’s best-known birds, and her text “conveys personality without slipping into anthropomorphism,” according to School Library Journal contributor Farida S. Dowler. Lee’s multidimensional “geese seem … ready to fly off the page and honk at the reader,” observed a Kirkus Reviews writer, the critic concluding that the combination of art and Sayre’s child-friendly text make Honk, Honk, Goose! a “terrific introduction.”
Sayre has also treated various topics from a wider point of view. In Put on Some Antlers and Walk like a Moose: How Scientists Find, Follow, and Study Wild Animals, she introduces methods that biologists use in the field to track and study a variety of species and presents the pros and cons of such work. Reviewing the work in School Library Journal, Arwen Marshall declared it a “lively and informative book” as well as an “excellent resource.” Both Splish! Splash! Animal Baths and Home at Last: A Song of Migration are picture-book treatments focusing respectively on how animals bathe and find their way “home.” In the former title, which Booklist critic Ellen Mandel called “wonderfully entertaining,” readers learn about how elephants, birds, horses, and even fish groom themselves. Birds, sea turtles, and Monarch butterflies number among the animals discussed in Home at Last, which with its combination of text and pastel art, may “strike a chord in young readers,” according to a Kirkus Reviews writer.
Sayre focuses on a tantalizing topic in Stars beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust. The narrative here prompted Cooper to cite the author’s “poetic treatment” of her “lowly” subject, while in Kirkus Reviews a contributor noted that Sayre’s book “will leave readers with a greater appreciation” for the ubiquitous and timeless substance. “For decades,” Sayre told Bianca Schulze in the Children’s Book Review, “I have read science news articles every day and there are so many intriguing brains at work in the science field! There’s so much hope, determination, and intellectual pleasure in this area. (It’s more refreshing than the frequently dreary or shallow mainstream news.) I think the best prescription for modern life is time in nature and reading science.”
Sayre’s picture-book texts are accompanied by child-friendly artwork by several talented illustrators. In Trout Are Made of Trees she draws readers into an introduction to the life cycle while Kate Endle brings the circular story to life in “attractive collage illustrations in natural colors,” according to School Library Journal critic Christine Markley. Hush, Little Puppy, in which a boy and his pup recall their daytime play as they fall asleep, features what Booklist contributor Hazel Rochman described as “soft-toned illustrations” by Susan Winter. Woody Miller crafts what Rochman described as the “eye-catching artwork” that brings to life Meet the Howlers!, an entertaining mix of rhyme and science fact that describes the life of the howler monkeys that live in Panama’s rain-forest environment. Alongside Miller’s creative mix of acrylics, crayon, colored pencil, and water color, Sayre’s “bouncing rhymes” will animate young storyhour crowds, Rochman added, and in School Library Journal, Nancy Call dubbed Meet the Howlers! “a whimsical introduction” that shows “active animals against backdrops of lush green.” Reviewing the same book, a Kirkus Reviews writer announced that Sayre “delivers yet another entertaining and accessible guide to the natural world.”
In Bloom Boom!, Sayre includes her own photographs of blooming trees, flowers, cacti, and bushes with accompanying text describing the ways in which the plants flower. Writing in School Library Journal, Eva Elisabeth VonAncken called the book “a lovely, useful work to help acquaint children with the natural world.” “The minimalist text, intriguing photos, and predictable refrain make this a perfect choice for preschool story hours,” suggested Kay Weisman, contributor to Booklist. A Kirkus Reviews critic similarly noted that the book offers a “charming introduction to flowering plants” and “is an obvious addition to a nature-themed storytime.”
Like a Lizard finds Sayre returning to the familiar topic of animals. In this volume, which features illustrations by Stephanie Laberis, listeners are asked if they would imitate various typical lizard activities. Gloria Koster, reviewer in School Library Journal, described Like a Lizard as “valuable not only for reptile enthusiasts but also … for students working to expand their own writing vocabularies.” A Kirkus Reviews critic called it “an appealing invitation to look more closely at the world of lizards and a welcome addition to a nature shelf.” “This makes a good STEM-themed read-aloud or introduction to herpetology units,” asserted Weisman, the Booklist writer.
[open new]Sayre offers young readers a metaphysical exploration of inquiry itself in Did You Burp? How to Ask Questions (or Not!). By using arrays of questions asked by diverse children in various contexts, Sayre opens up an exploration of what the different question words do, how effectively tone changes signal a question, and how certain questions can be inapt in certain situations. A Kirkus Reviews writer celebrated how youngsters fond of asking questions “at last have a toolbox for formulating more and better ones.” The reviewer called Did You Burp? “funny, thoughtful, and rewarding to read, no question.”
With Being Frog, Sayre puts young readers in the shoes—or rather, on the lily pads—of the fantastic title amphibian, exploring with simple text its habits, activities, and lifestyle. In the author’s note, Sayre juxtaposes her personal observations of frogs in a local pond with the more rigorous explorations undertaken by scientists. A Kirkus Reviews writer noted that Sayre’s own abundant photographs and prose together succeed in “provoking humor, interest, and reverence.” The reviewer praised Being Frog for offering “sound tadpole philosophy.” Sayre undertakes a similar exploration of a common denizen of the sky with simple rhyming text in Seagulls Soar. Beyond their ordinary seaside habitat, Sayre follows seagulls off the beaten paths to the wakes of tractors and whales and bears witness as one gull family hatches young. A Kirkus Reviews writer called Seagulls Soar “another deceptively simple, soaringly successful flight.”
Sayre offers a combined exploration of urban architecture, mathematics, and aesthetics in Cityscape: Where Science and Art Meet. The photographs—including some of Chicago and also global spots like London and Paris—highlight everything from electrical wires, tiles, and statues to cranes, bridges, and skyscrapers, finding geometric shapes and creative inspiration in every corner. A Kirkus Reviews writer appreciated how this “eclectic collection of photos of architecture” highlights “the visual confluence of engineering and art.”
Feel the Fog is another immersive book combining science, photography, and poetry. Sayre details the science behind water vapor hovering in the air and also takes readers through a tour of foggy spots high and low, exploring how the mist changes perceptions of sight and sound. In Booklist, Carolyn Phelan hailed Feel the Fog as “elegant,” “beautiful,” and “absorbing.” Phelan was led to more broadly observe that some science books for children “explain natural phenomena, while others inspire a sense of wonder. Few combine the two as beautifully as Sayre’s nature books.”[close new]
Sayre once told SATA: “As a child, I spent hours picking flowers, watching insects and birds, reading books, and writing. Now I do the same thing, only as a career. My favorite part of the work is researching—reading books and magazines, calling people on the phone, and visiting museums, parks, and aquariums. The writing itself is difficult. But I write and rewrite until I’m satisfied with every paragraph. I try to communicate the excitement I feel about nature and my fascination with the way scientists discover how nature works. I also feel it’s important to write about the environmental problems our planet faces and what’s being done to solve those problems.
“My favorite activity is traveling. I have been fortunate to visit many of the grasslands, forests, seashores, rain forests, deserts, and other biomes I describe in my books. I scuba dive and snorkel over coral reefs. My husband and I spent a month in the rain forest of Madagascar, studying lemurs. But most of the time we tromp through wetlands, forests, and grasslands nearby, in order to watch birds.
“My advice to young writers/naturalists is to read a lot, write a lot, and grab a hand lens, go outdoors, and check out all the bizarre and beautiful insects and spiders that live on the plants in your neighborhood. Like me, you’ll probably be amazed by what you find living close to home.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, January 1, 1995, Mary Harris Veeder, reviews of Temperate Deciduous Forest, Tropical Rain Forest, and Desert, all p. 821; September 1, 1995, Julie Corsaro, review of If You Should Hear a Honeyguide, p. 80; June 1, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, reviews of Wetland and Lake and Pond, both pp. 1712-1713; December 1, 1997, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Put on Some Antlers and Walk like a Moose: How Scientists Find, Follow, and Study Wild Animals, and Stephanie Zvirin, review of Endangered Birds of North America, both p. 632; December 1, 1998, Hazel Rochman, review of Home at Last: A Song of Migration, p. 682; February 1, 1999, Carolyn Phelan, review of Antarctica, p. 972; August, 1999, Hazel Rochman, review of Asia, p. 2055; April 1, 2000, Ellen Mandel, review of Splish! Splash! Animal Baths, p. 1466; August, 2000, Carolyn Phelan, review of Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!, p. 2150; September 15, 2000, Catherine Andronik, review of El Niño and La Niña: Weather in the Headlines, p. 238; December 1, 2000, Stephanie Zvirin, Splish! Splash! Animal Baths, p. 73; June 1, 2001, Carolyn Phelan, review of Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Toad’s Tale, p. 1881; November 15, 2001, Gillian Engberg, review of The Hungry Hummingbird, p. 579; December 1, 2001, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Dig, Wait, Listen, p. 658; February 15, 2002, Kay Weisman, review of Noodle Man: The Pasta Superhero, p. 1021; March 1, 2002, Lauren Peterson, review of Army Ant Parade, p. 1138; April 15, 2002, Connie Fletcher, review of Shadows, p. 1409; October 15. 2003, Stephanie Zvirin, review of G’Day, Australia!, p. 438; April 1, 2005, Ilene Cooper, review of Stars beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust, p. 1362; June 1, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of Hush, Little Puppy, p. 76; November 1, 2007, Ilene Cooper, review of Vulture View, p. 44; February 15, 2008, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Trout Are Made of Trees, p. 94; March 1, 2009, Abby Nolan, review of Honk, Honk, Goose! Canada Geese Start a Family, p. 45; March 15, 2010, Hazel Rochman, review of Meet the Howlers!, p. 44; March 1, 2011, Karen Cruze, review of If You’re Hoppy, p. 63; May 15, 2011, Diane Foote, review of Rah, Rah, Radishes! A Vegetable Chant, p. 44; December 15, 2012, Carol Haggas, review of Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening with Kids, p. 16; September 15, 2016, Carolyn Phelan, review of Best in Snow, p. 48; December 1, 2018, Kay Weisman, review of Bloom Boom!, p. 53; March 1, 2019, Kay Weisman, review of Like a Lizard, p. 48; September 1, 2020, Carolyn Phelan, review of Feel the Fog, p. 93.
BookPage, January, 2015, Julie Danielson, review of Raindrops Roll, p. 30.
Children’s Bookwatch, September, 2013, review of Here Come the Humpbacks!
Horn Book, November-December, 2001, Lolly Robinson, review of It’s My City! A Singing Map, p. 738; September-October, 2002, Danielle J. Ford, review of Secrets of Sound: Studying the Calls and Songs of Whales, Elephants, and Birds, p. 602; May-June, 2005, Danielle J. Ford, review of The Bumblebee Queen, p. 350; July-August, 2008, Danielle J. Ford, review of Trout Are Made of Trees, p. 472; May-June, 2009, Danielle J. Ford, review of Honk, Honk, Goose!, p. 327; May-June, 2010, Danielle J. Ford, review of Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!, p. 113.
Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 1998, review of Home at Last, p. 1464; August 15, 2001, review of Crocodile Listens, p. 1221; April 1, 2005, review of Stars beneath Your Bed, p. 424; March 15, 2007, review of Hush, Little Puppy; September 1, 2007, review of Vulture View; September 15, 2007, review of Bird, Bird, Bird! A Chirping Chant; January 15, 2008, review of Trout Are Made of Trees; April 1, 2009, review of Honk, Honk, Goose!; February 15, 2010, review of Meet the Howlers!; May 15, 2011, review of Rah, Rah, Radishes!; April 1, 2012, review of Go, Go, Grapes!; June 1, 2013, review of Let’s Go Nuts! Seeds We Eat; September 1, 2013, review of Eat like a Bear; February 15, 2015, review of Woodpecker Wham!; February 15, 2016, review of The Slowest Book Ever; June 15, 2017, review of Full of Fall; October 15, 2018, review of Bloom Boom!; January 15, 2019, review of Like a Lizard; June 15, 2019, review of Did You Burp? How to Ask Questions (or Not!); October 15, 2019, review of Being Frog; February 1, 2020, review of Seagulls Soar; March 15, 2020, review of Cityscape: Where Science and Art Meet.
Publishers Weekly, July 9, 2001, review of It’s My City!, p. 67; February 11, 2002, review of Shadows, p. 184; April 8, 2002, review of Noodle Man, p. 226; April 28, 2003, review of One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab: A Counting by Feet Book, p. 69; November 5, 2007, review of Vulture View, p. 63; February 18, 2008, review of Trout Are Made of Trees, p. 153; January 4, 2010, review of Meet the Howlers!, p. 44; spring, 2014, review of Eat like a Bear, p. 56; December 2, 2015, review of Raindrops Roll, p. 50; October 3, 2016, review of Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep, p. 127; December 2, 2016, review of Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep, p. 51.
School Library Journal, January, 1995, Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, reviews of Tropical Rain Forest, Desert, and Temperate Deciduous Forest, all p. 131; February, 1995, Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, reviews of Tundra, Taiga, and Grassland, all p. 110; October, 1995, Susan Scheps, review of If You Should Hear a Honeyguide, p. 129; June, 1996, Lisa Wu Stowe, reviews of Wetland, River and Stream, and Lake and Pond, all p. 148; January, 1997, Frances E. Millhouser, reviews of Seashore, Ocean, and Coral Reef, all pp. 134-135; January, 1998, Patricia Manning, review of Endangered Birds of North America, pp. 130-131; February, 1998, Arwen Marshall, review of Put on Some Antlers and Walk like a Moose, pp. 124-123; December, 1998, Patricia Manning, review of Home at Last, pp. 113-114; February, 1999, Jeanette Larson, reviews of Australia and Europe, both p. 125; April, 1999, Mollie Bynum, review of Antarctica, p. 156; May, 2000, Blair Christolon, review of Splish! Splash! Animal Baths, p. 164; October, 2000, Susan Scheps, review of Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!, p. 136; June, 2001, Ellen Heath, review of Dig, Wait, Listen, p. 129; October, 2001, Anne Knickerbocker, review of It’s My City!, and Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, review of Crocodile Listens, both p. 130; November, 2001, Maryann H. Owen, review of The Hungry Hummingbird, p. 150; April, 2005, Patricia Manning, review of The Bumblebee Queen, p. 126; December, 2005, Carolyn Janssen, review of Ant, Ant, Ant! An Insect Chant, p. 134; August, 2007, Alyssa G. Parkinson, review of Hush, Little Puppy, p. 105; December, 2007, Robin L. Gibson, review of Vulture View, p. 115; January, 2008, Martha Simpson, review of Bird, Bird, Bird!, p. 111; April, 2008, Christine Markley, review of Trout Are Made of Trees, p. 13; April, 2009, Farida S. Dowler, review of Honk, Honk, Goose!, p. 126; March, 2010, Frances E. Millhouser, review of Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!, p. 130, and Nancy Call, review of Meet the Howlers!, p. 143; January, 2011, Linda Ludke, review of If You’re Hoppy, p. 82; December, 2018, Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, review of Bloom Boom!, p. 90; March, 2019, Gloria Koster, review of Like a Lizard, p. 129.
Science News, March 22, 2008, review of Trout Are Made of Trees, p. 191; June 5, 2010, review of Meet the Howlers!, p. 29.
Teacher Librarian, March, 1999, Shirley Lewis, review of Home at Last, p. 44.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 1997, Mary Ojibway, reviews of Coral Reef and Ocean, both p. 60; February, 1998, Marilyn Brien, review of Put on Some Antlers and Walk like a Moose, p. 404.
ONLINE
April Pulley Sayre website, http://www.aprilsayre.com (April 28, 2021).
Children’s Book Review, https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/ (August 29, 2017), Bianca Schulze, author interview.
Cynsations, http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.my/ (March 8, 2006), Cynthia Leitich Smith, “Author Feature: April Pulley Sayre.”
Kirkus Reviews Online, http://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (August 12, 2011), Jessie Grearson, author interview.
Michele Cusolito, Polliwog on Safari, http://michellecusolito.blogspot.my/ (April 23, 2013), Michele Cusolito, “Author Interview: April Pulley Sayre.”
Writers’ Rumpus, https://writersrumpus.com/ (November 14, 2014), Carol Gordon Ekster, “Meet the Talented Children’s Author, April Pulley Sayre.”
April Pulley Sayre is a photo-illustrator and award-winning author of over 65 books including Bloom Boom, Warbler Wave, Full of Fall, and Thank You, Earth. Her read aloud picture books, known for their lyricism, playful voice, and scientific precision, have been translated into Korean, French, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic. Sayre’s ten photo-illustrated books include the classic Rah, Rah, Radishes and Raindrops Roll, which was both an ALA Notable and a NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book. Best in Snow received four starred reviews and was on many 2016 best book lists.
Eat Like a Bear, Woodpecker Wham, and One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab are among her ALA Notable Books. Vulture View received the Theodor “Seuss” Geisel Honor Award. Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust, an ALA Notable, won the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books Sayre’s Slowest Book Ever has been used as a featured all-school read for middle schools.
Sayre has followed lemurs in Madagascar, pursued army ants in Panama, and eaten piranha in the Peruvian Amazon. She has a biology degree from Duke University, an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College, and travels to present on writing nonfiction voice, preschool education, literacy, and STEM. When not leading tours to Panama’s rainforests, or photographing desert wildflowers, she and her husband Jeff Sayre—co-author of the Kaufman Field Guide to the Nature of the Midwest—can be found in their wildlife garden near Lake Michigan.
MY STORY, MY GEOGRAPHY
Indiana Author, Michigan Author, South Carolina Author, North Carolina Author, Virginia Author, Panama Author
My life and my books are rooted in and inspired by the landscapes where I have lived. Blue ridge mountains, Carolina foothills, Indiana cornfields, and Virginia tidewater area are among the places that have taught me about plants and animals. See below for my full geography and why I consider myself an Indiana/South Carolina/North Carolina/Virginia/Michigan author.
South Carolina Childhood
I was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina and learned about nature with travels all the way to Myrtle Beach. My mother taught me about the birds and plants of our backyard. A lot of my time was spent walking the lakes of Furman Campus to look at the ducks and swans.
I worked at a raptor rehab center.There I cared for hawks and owls. Up at the farm that belonged to my grandparents, near Tigerville, I learned about picking peas, pulling carrots, hoeing beans, and tending the cows in the hot summer sun. My friend Miranda and I trained our ponies by riding bareback on the back roads of the county and swimming in the ponds. One of the poems I wrote as a girl, about South Carolina, is in the book, Stories From Where We Live: The Gulf Coast.
I attended Montessori, League Middle, and Wade Hampton High. My father was an education professor at Furman. So when I do school visits in South Carolina, I have the additional pleasure of meeting many teachers my dad helped train over the years.
North Carolina Girl
I have always felt a bone-deep connection to the Appalachian mountains, particularly the foothills. When I was a girl, we spent weekends and summers at Sugar Mountain, near Banner Elk. We ice skated competitively with a team from Boone, N.C. We spent time in Asheville, and all over that part of N.C.
North Carolina holds my best family memories of mountains, the outdoors, and crystal hunting. My mother taught me the wildflowers of the mountains. I feel somehow deeply rooted in Appalachia, as if our family has lived there for thousands of years. I studied its cultures, learned about dulcimers, folk tales, traditions, and mountain singing. Old time and bluegrass are my kind of music.
I went to college at Duke University in Durham. There I studied biology, especially primatology, and graduated with a B.A. I spent time at the Duke Marine Laboratory near Wilmington, so I love the barrier islands, as well.
Virginia Roots and Branches
My dad was born in Virginia, amidst pig-farming and peanut-farming lands. My parents met at College of William & Mary, where my family has deep connections. When I was a child, we always traveled to Williamsburg for family reunions so I grew up bicycling in Williamsburg and enjoying the creeks. We traveled the mountains of VA; I especially remember a visit to Peaks of Otter.
My husband and I met up in Vienna, Virginia, and lived there for four years. We first learned about birds by walking the W&OD trail and hiking Great Falls. I worked at National Wildlife Federation and the National Geographic Society in D.C. Our first big birding trips were into the Chesapeake Bay areas of VA and MD. We traveled up along the Blue Ridge parkway to look for our wedding site but settled on Vienna.
Now I travel to Virginia often. Virginia is where my heart is; most of my family lives there. So I spend time in Winchester, Wintergreen, Williamsburg, and Richmond.
Indiana Home and Michigan Adventures
For 15 years I have lived in South Bend, Indiana, just five miles from the Michigan border. This area is called Michiana by residents because it combines the two states. Most of our knowledge of plants and animals has been developed here in the forests, wetlands, tallgrass prairies, and dunes of Indiana and Michigan. (My husband is an ecologist and native plant expert so we have about 400 species of plants in our yard!) We enjoy seeing wildflowers in local parks.
The seasons are marked by the emergence of bluebells, trillium, columbine–and later–the monarda and coneflower. I have gotten to know the frogs, turtles, butterflies, dragonflies, and other insect species by wildlife gardening here. I have also gotten to know other features of Indiana by traveling to give talks.
We are fortunate to live on a major flyway for migratory birds so we encounter incredible numbers of warblers in our yard and along Lake Michigan’s shoreline. Each May we spend two weeks just enjoying the birds in our yard, and at Potato Creek, Michigan Dunes, Grand Mere, and other spots.
My husband was instrumental in exploring and saving an incredible fen (a type of wetland) in southwest Michigan. One of our favorite places to go is Whitefish Point, in the upper peninsula of Michigan, where there is a bird observatory. Whitefish Point was the first place we ever saw kettles of hawks in migration. We have seen eagles, cranes, and lots of loons there. It is a major hotspot for many migrating birds. One of my Indiana stories is in Stories From Where We Live: The Great Lakes.
PANAMA CONNECTIONS
Once you visit a country, you are forever connected to it. I have visited 27 countries. Most of the places that we have visited recently are in Latin America. One that we visit again and again is Panama. Jeff and I love Panama: the geography, the people, the wildlife. We have led tours to Panama. We have gotten to know the birds of Panama, and even recognize many by their calls. Howler monkeys and blue morpho butterflies are familiar friends. When we return to Panama, the frog sounds, and even the roars of the howler monkeys make us feel at home. My book Army Ant Parade is set in Panama. So is He’s a Howler, which will be released next year. Three of my other books were written and/or photographed partly in Panama. You can see the photos of hawks in migration in Secrets of Sound: Studying the Calls and Songs of Whales, Elephants, and Birds.
SAYING/SPELLING MY NAME
My last name is Sayre. No hyphen. No compound name.
It is pronounced “SAY-ur,” like someone who says.
I don’t mind being called just April Sayre. But on most of my books my middle name (Pulley) is written out so people recognize it that way. This also allows the Pulley side of my family to point to the books and say, “Hey, there’s our name!”
I’m not very fussy about all this name stuff. I’ll answer to most greetings other than “Hey, dude” and “Yo, August.”
I was born in April and that is why I am called April. My family has a month name tradition.
If I shower, May flowers do not necessarily grow. For those of you out of the folklore loop, there is a saying, “April showers bring May flowers.”
April Pulley Sayre is an award-winning author of over 65 natural history books for children and adults. She has photo-illustrated ten of them. Her read-aloud books, known for their lyricism and scientific precision, have been translated into French, Dutch, Japanese, and Korean. Her picture book VULTURE VIEW, illustrated by Steve Jenkins, received the Theodor "Seuss" Geisel Honor from the American Library Association. STARS BENEATH YOUR BED: the Surprising Story of Dust, received the AAAS/SB&F/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books and was named an ALA Notable. ONE IS SNAIL, TEN IS A CRAB was an ALA Notable and received Britain's highest literacy award. THE BUMBLEBEE QUEEN marked her third win of the John Burroughs Award. Sayre and her husband Jeff have followed lemurs in Madagascar, pursued army ants in Panama, and eaten piranha in the Peruvian Amazon. Mostly, though, they garden for wildlife and munch blueberries at their home in the Midwest.
April Pulley Sayre
As a child
I grew up on a small mountain in Greenville, South Carolina. As a child, I spent hours picking flowers, watching insects, reading books and writing. Now I do the same thing, only as a career. I have been writing since I first wrote a book about guppies, and sold bedtime stories for pet rocks to my elementary school classmates. All my life I have loved being outdoors in nature. When I was younger, I rode horses, snow-skied and climbed a lot of trees. We had a very tall white pine tree I loved to climb. The only problem was that the pine tar got stuck in my hair and had to be cut out. I have never minded getting messy or muddy if it meant I could look out from a tree-top, or hold a turtle, or see a new bird.
As an adult
For many years, I struggled over whether to be a scientist or a writer. At Duke University, I studied biology and anthropology. I worked with lemurs. Yet I wrote for student publications at the same time. After university I worked at the National Wildlife Federation and at the National Geographic Society. My husband and I travelled to Madagascar and lived in a rain forest field camp, because we thought we still might want to be scientists. However, I found I was more interested in writing stories and essays about the forest than chasing lemurs and analysing scientific data. So I devoted myself to writing full-time. I have now written over fifty books for young readers, including If You Should Hear a Honey Guide and One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab. It’s been exciting to see my books translated into French, Dutch, Japanese and Korean. I visit schools all over the US as a featured author, speaking to 8,000 students each year. When my husband, Jeff, and I are not off bird-watching in Panama or Peru, we’re perfecting our dragonfly water garden and butterfly-hummingbird garden at home in South Bend, Indiana.
As an artist
Most of my work has to do with science, especially plants and animals. I also love geography – studying maps and figuring out where the world’s mountains and lakes are, and knowing why these places are dry, cold, snowy or wet. My favourite part of the work is researching – travelling to rainforests, reading books and magazines, calling people on the phone, and visiting museums, parks and aquaria. I also love writing. At times the writing is joyful and comes in a great whoosh of inspiration, at other times the writing is difficult and takes many drafts and lots of hard work. I write and rewrite until I’m satisfied with every paragraph. The sound of language is very important to me. I like to play with works and use their rhythm and subtle rhyme to make my books delicious to read. I also love to give my work a twist that makes people gasp in wonder, or laugh out loud.
Things you didn't know about April Pulley Sayre
My favourite author is Tamora Pierce.
I have snorkelled over nurse sharks at night.
I used to be a competitive ice-skater.
I make my own dill pickles, by my grandmother’s recipe.
I secretly want to be a songwriter.
When I was two, a zoo goat ate my dress.
I make wire sculptures in winter.
Dragonflies often land on me.
I have heard fish calling from below my canoe in the Amazon river.
I have been pooped on by over twelve animal species (but not at once).
Sayre, April Pulley DID YOU BURP? Charlesbridge (Children's Informational) $17.99 8, 6 ISBN: 978-1-58089-737-2
What are questions, and what are they good for?
On a beach, in a garden, visiting a museum, sitting in class with the president of the United States (a woman of color, as it happens), and elsewhere, a racially diverse and compulsively inquisitive group of children demonstrate the ins and outs of productive questioning: "Are you the new teacher?" "Is this a veggie burger?" "Do you know if walruses have ears?" "Where do you park Air Force One?" Sayre describes how speakers use words such as "who" or "where" plus intonation to formulate questions in English (with a brief excursion into Spanish: "Where is the gerbil?" " Donde esta el jerbo?"). In explaining that questions can express curiosity or care for others as well as simply act as requests for information, she also points out situational subtleties: "Did you burp, Madam President?" can be discomfiting in some contexts, for instance, but appropriate in, say, the course of a medical exam. She also suggests that "How" questions can "ask in a gentle way about feelings, tender topics, and complicated subjects," and that it's OK to make mistakes in the course of learning what works and when. Younger audiences, hard-wired to start asking questions from an early age, at last have a toolbox for formulating more and better ones. "So be brave," the author concludes. "Be bold. Ask questions!"
Funny, thoughtful, and rewarding to read, no question. (Informational picture book. 6-9)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Sayre, April Pulley: DID YOU BURP?" Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A588726930/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=5492d499. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.
Sayre, April Pulley BEING FROG Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster (Children's Informational) $17.99 2, 4 ISBN: 978-1-5344-2881-2
This photo essay about the eponymous amphibian includes simple rhyming sentences both informative and appreciative.
The first verso states boldly: "A frog / is a being. / It is watching. / It is seeing." The photograph across the gutter presents a close-up view of a green frog's face against a blurry, muted, outdoor background. The simple verses scan well throughout. Many of the sentences use "It" to refer to the frog whose life is being studied; just one "It" has a different antecedent, which throws a slight curve during initial reading. However, this small book of relatively few words manages to say a lot. Some pages give readers a rudimentary understanding of a frog's daily life and the life cycle of a frog. Others provide gentle reminders that these are sentient creatures whose lives are only partly understood by human beings. ("Does it ponder? / We don't yet know.") The excellent photography--with sharp images that join the text in provoking humor, interest, and reverence--attests to the author's note about spending a good deal of time observing frogs at a nearby pond. The author's note itself is lovely: While offering fascinating details about her own encounters with specific frogs, it also clarifies for young readers the difference between scientific and anecdotal research--and the value in both. The youngest readers will love the photographs and rhymes; slightly older children will also appreciate the author's note.
Sound tadpole philosophy. (resources) (Informational picture book. 3-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Sayre, April Pulley: BEING FROG." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A602487599/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=bec5f3b5. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.
Sayre, April Pulley SEAGULLS SOAR Boyds Mills (Children's Informational) $17.99 4, 14 ISBN: 978-1-68437-197-6
Ballad stanzas celebrate gulls who flourish both near and far from the sea.
Sayre, who has introduced all kinds of animals with clever rhymes and rhythms designed for reading aloud, turns to the gull family. While readers and listeners may know that gulls follow boats and frequent sandy shores, they may be surprised to learn that they fly into deserts, forage in garbage dumps, pursue plowing tractors and feeding whales, and use human-paved roads to open clams shells. After a series of action examples, one stanza to a spread, comes a change of pace, stretching out a reveal over a page turn: "Seagulls nest, / gather sticks. / Spotted eggs, then… // …spotted chicks!" The narrative pauses with a note about the curious way these birds move: "Left wing, left leg, / stretch as one." With time, the chicks grow, fledge and become adults, circling "from ship to shore" all over again. While Sayre's books are often illustrated with her own photographs, the choice not to try to photograph the confusing gull family is sensible. From the laughing gulls on the title page to the California gull on the final, dedication page, first-time picture-book illustrator Bogdańska's digital images are reasonably recognizable (though never identified) and convey something of the range of gull appearances and the wide variety of their habitats. The backmatter adds additional interesting information about gulls' feeding habits, their varied and varying plumage, and their common name.
Another deceptively simple, soaringly successful flight. (acknowledgments) (Informational picture book. 3-8)
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"Sayre, April Pulley: SEAGULLS SOAR." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A612619091/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=09726723. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.
Sayre, April Pulley CITYSCAPE Greenwillow (Children's Informational) $17.99 5, 19 ISBN: 978-0-06-289331-4
An eclectic collection of photos of architecture is linked by simple rhymes in large type, highlighting the visual confluence of engineering and art.
A photo depicting electrical wires against a building with corrugated siding is accompanied by the text “Lines merge, / diverge, divide,” followed by “Science, math, art / live side by side” on the facing page, accompanying photos of a statue of a lion, a tiled wall, and a close-up of a grille of some sort. Similarly, curves, triangles, and other geometric elements are evoked in photos of skyscrapers, bridges, cranes, and sculpture. In places, the concept seems too advanced for the likely audience. “Structures transmit,” set against a photo of electrical transformers, is shown opposite the text “transport, / and power,” which accompanies four photos: of people riding a Vespa, a fire engine, an overhead view of a recreational kayaker, and a view of the U.S. Capitol with a school bus in the foreground. Readers will be understandably confused as they try to parse this sentence. Are the scooter, fire engine, and kayak to be read as “structures”? Is the picture of the Capitol dome a play on the word “power”? Most of the generic cityscape images seem to be of Chicago, with landmark structures from Machu Picchu, London, Paris, and other cities mixed in. A concluding spread contains questions for children to consider as they navigate cities.
A rare misfire from Sayre. (Informational picture book. 5-9)
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"Sayre, April Pulley: CITYSCAPE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A617192817/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ca59287b. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.
Feel the Fog. By April Pulley Sayre. Illus. by the author. Sept. 2020. 40p. Simon 8i Schuster/Beach Lane, $ 17.99 (9781534437609). PreS-Gr. 3. 551.57.
Some children's science books explain natural phenomena, while others inspire a sense of wonder. Few combine the two as beautifully as Sayres nature books, such as Best in Snow (2016), Full of Fall (2017), or her latest, on fog. "Thicker than mist, / fog can drift, / fog can flow. / Fog forms above / fields of snow. / Fog shifts focus / to near, right here / What do you smell? / What do you hear?" The poetic text works seamlessly with the photos to guide readers through the scenes while pointing out the distinctive features of fog, such as its movement and the way it affects perception by muffling sounds and dimming colors. In one scene, mottled pale-gray forms fade into white, but gradually the barely discernible forms of birds emerge. The large-format volume showcases Sayres riveting photos, whether transporting readers to foggy mountains and forests or focusing attention on droplets of dew condensed on a spiders web. For curious readers, two appended pages provide clear, succinct explanations of fog, water vapor, condensation, and related topics. From the photos to the poetry to the science, everything about the book is spare, elegant, and accessible to primary-grade children. A beautiful, absorbing science book.--Carolyn Phelan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 American Library Association
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Phelan, Carolyn. "Feel the Fog." Booklist, vol. 117, no. 1-2, 1 Sept. 2020, p. 93+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A637433552/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=7be476cb. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.