*Starred Review in Publishers Weekly

I'm so excited that my latest picture book, DARE THE WIND, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.  DARE, which was illustrated by the wonderful Emily Arnold McCully, is the story of Eleanor 'Ellen' Prentiss.  Ellen navigated the clipper ship, the Flying Cloud, on its daring, record-breaking voyage from New York City to gold-rush era San Francisco.  The review says, in part, "Fern...lyrically paints a picture of the journey's ups and downs," and "McCully's...illustrations bring to vivid life this picture-book..."   Yahoo!!!  You can check out the entire review here.  DARE will be published on February 18, 2014, but you can pre-order it now!

DARE THE WIND Review

The first review of DARE THE WIND is in, and it's a great one!  I'm so pleased that DARE was given a starred review in Kirkus.  The reviewer wrote:  As stimulating as the sea air itself, this story will surely send the salt water coursing through the veins of its readers.  Yeah!  You can read the entire review here. 

Dare the Wind

Dare the Wind was recently named a Junior Library Guild selection!  I'll post the full list of 2014 JLG selections when it's available, but I'm honored that my fourth picture book is also my fourth JLG selection!

You're Never too Young to Find a Dino

Barnum Brown started fossil hunting when he was just a young boy.  Similarly, there was a story in the New York Times recently about a 17-year-old boy who made a great fossil find, too.  Kevin Terris uncovered a baby dinosaur (nicknamed 'Joe') in 2009 while he was on a school field trip to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.  He found the most complete specimen of the tube-crested Parasaurolophus.  You can read the full story of Kevin's discovery here.   Another article includes an artist's impressions of Joe, so you can see what he may have looked like when he roamed the earth about 75 million years ago.  It's never too soon to start hunting bones!

One More!

I just learned that Barnum's Bones was also selected as a 2014 Rhode Island Children's Book Award Nominee!   What a wonderful honor from one of my favorite states!  You can check out the complete list of nominees here.

Dare the Wind Will Be Blowing In Soon!

My newest picture book, Dare the Wind: The Record-Breaking Voyage of Eleanor Prentiss and the Flying Cloud, is coming soon!  It will be published in February 2014 by Margaret Ferguson Books, Farrar, Straus & Giroux and is illustrated by the wonderful Emily Arnold McCully.  Dare the Wind is based on the true story of Eleanor "Ellen" Prentiss, the first woman to navigate a clipper ship from New York to San Francisco.  Ellen not only completed the trip, her daring 1851 voyage set a world record for speed, too! 

Ellen was a fascinating subject to research and write about, particularly since she was a Massachusetts girl, raised in nearby Marblehead.  What fun to walk the same cobbled streets that she did!  I'll be posting more in the coming months about Dare the Wind's voyage from concept to picture book.

More Good News for Barnum

Barnum's Bones was recently honored by being named to the 2013 Maine Cream of the Crop List.  Barnum was also named a 2014 New York State Reading Association Charlotte Award Nominee and a 2013 Virginia Jefferson Cup Award Honor Book.  Be sure to check out all of these lists for other great books to read, enjoy, and linger over!

Bozeman Schools Celebrate Buffalo Music

I was thrilled to learn that the Bozeman Schools Foundation recently selected Buffalo Music for their Links to Literacy program.  The program distributes over 550 books to Bozeman first grade students, teachers, and school librarians in an effort to encourage parents and students to explore books together and read out loud.  This year, the program partnered with the One Book One Bozeman program on a buffalo theme and selected Buffalo Music to complement the One Book One Bozeman selection, Last Stand: Ted Turner's Quest to Save a Troubled Planet, by Todd Wilkinson.  I'm honored that Buffalo Music was chosen to be part of such a wonderful program.  Thanks, Bozeman, and keep reading!

Barnum on Bank Street

Barnum's Bones was recently selected as a 2013 Best Book of the Year by the Bank Street College of Education.  You can view the complete list here.  Barnum is listed in the age 5-9 category.  Thank you, Bank Street!

Booklist Top 10

Barnum's Bones was recently named one of Booklist's Top 10 Biographies for Youth: 2013.  I'm honored to be in the company of some wonderful books!  You can check out the complete list here. 

More Great News!

I'm so pleased that Barnum's Bones was recently named to the CCBC Choices 2013 list, the annual best-of-the-year list of the Cooperative Children's Book Center.  The full listing of selections is available here.  Thank you CCBC!

I'm also pleased that Barnum was named to the 2013 DC Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens list.   The complete list of noteworthy books can be viewed here.  It's always an honor when an organization made up of members that work directly with young readers recommends one of my books.  Thank you Capitol Choices!

Barnum on The Classroom Bookshelf

Barnum was recently reviewed on the wonderful blog, The Classroom Bookshelf.  The review was lovely, but even more exciting was the extensive list of ideas on how to use Barnum in the classroom.  I was especially interested in the idea of students exploring the issue of scientific cooperation versus scientific rivalry, a theme which is touched on in Barnum but which could be expanded by learning about the 'bone wars' that raged between fossil hunters Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh.  In addition to ideas for further classroom use, The Classroom Bookshelf entry also includes a lengthy list of related websites and print media for further exploration and research.  This is a great resource for teachers, parents, and kids who want to know more about Barnum and dinosaurs.  You can read the entire blog entry here.

Barnum Named an Outstanding Science Trade Book

The National Science Teachers Association recently named Barnum's Bones an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students.  Needless to say, I'm very honored, especially because science teachers played such an important role in my own educational experience.   My high school chemistry and biology teachers sparked an interested that still shapes what I do today.  Mr. Sprague's chemistry II class was the most challenging class I took in high school, and I loved it. Thank you to Mr. Sprague and to all the other science teachers who inspire kids to explore, investigate, and understand our world!  The entire list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students, 2013 can be seen here.