KERLAN COLLECTION: Donation of Book Materials

As I continue to clean out the closet in my office where I keep the working materials from my published books, I have been donating manuscripts, letters, reviews, and other items to the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota.

The Kerlan Collection at the Children’s Literature Research Collections at the University of Minnesota is an internationally recognized center of research in the field of children’s literature. The Collection contains original materials, including manuscripts, artwork, galleys, and color proofs for more than 1,700 children’s book creators. These materials represent over a century of American children’s books and selected titles published in other countries. The Kerlan Collection also includes more than 110,000 children’s books.

My most recent donation is a box of books and associated materials from four of my books that were published by Charlesbridge Books.

Shockers of the Sea (1999)

Did You Hear That? (2001)

Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machines (2003)

Super Swimmers: Whales, Dolphins and Other Mammals of the Sea (2007) 

 

I am proud to have my work included in the Kerlan Collection and hope that future students of children’s literature will find it of use in their research.

For a complete list of my books in the Kerlan Collection archive go to my website and scroll down to the bottom of the About the Author page .

For my post about my visit to the Kerlan Collection in 2022 click HERE.

WHERE IN THE WORLD? World Map Project, 2006, by Antonia Hirsch

Equal Countries A-Z, from the World Map Project, 2006, giclee print on paper, edition 5/5. By Antonia Hirsch.

On my recent trip to Vancouver, Canada, I encountered this print in the Art Museum on the University of British Columbia campus. Every country in the world is represented, from A to Z, with their contours correct but their land masses equalized. How many countries can you identify? Remember, they are in alphabetical order!

THANK YOU LETTERS FROM ESPERANZA SCHOOL

Illustration on letter from student at Esperanza School, Los Angeles, CA.

I am always delighted to receive thank you letters from students after I do an author visit at their school. In March I visited Mrs. Williams class at Esperanza School in Los Angeles, sharing my books with the students and getting a tour of the natural habitat school garden. (See my post March 24, 2025.) Each of the students had the opportunity to choose one of my books to be purchased for them by the school. Afterward, the students wrote letters to me and illustrated them with their favorite books. I just received them along with a lovely note from Mrs. Williams. One student wrote: "I was amazed that you said that you wrote about 100 books." Another wrote: "I wish I can be an author like you one day."  I especially love the letter from Emma, who told me about how she learned to make dragon puppets until she became a “pro puppeteer.” She ended her letter with this: “I have some advice. Never give up, keep going, never stop your dream! And my favorite book is A Day and Night on the Prairie because there are many animals that I like.” Her illustration is at the top of this post.

Letters from students at Esperanza School

It is letters like these that make me glad I am an author.

WHEN MAMMOTHS WALKED THE EARTH: Meeting Wooly Mammoths in the Natural Science Museum, Bergamo, Italy

Wooly Mammoth models at the Natural Science Museum, Bergamo, Italy.

In 2002, my book WHEN MAMMOTHS WALKED THE EARTH was published by Clarion Books. It covered the worldwide occurrence of mammoths, from the wooly mammoths that wandered much of the northern hemisphere during the last Ice Age to the huge Columbian Mammoths, like those whose skeletons are displayed at the George C. Page Museum in Los Angeles, where I live. On my recent trip to Italy, I visited the Natural Science Museum in Bergamo, where I encountered models of a wooly mammoth mother and her calf. It was like meeting old friends. As I looked out into the foothills of the Alps behind Bergamo, I could image herds of mammoths just like these models that wandered Italian valleys as prehistoric people began to make their homes here.

The hardback edition of WHEN MAMMOTHS WALKED THE EARTH is out of print, but you can find it as an ebook on Amazon. Or you can look for the print book in your library!

Growing to weights of 10 tons and distinguished by enormous curling tusks, mammoths were the largest land animals of the Ice Age. In this meticulously researched, clear, and accessible book, award-winning nonfiction author Caroline Arnold describes the natural history of mammoths, highlighting their physical features and adaptation to the environment. Laurie Caple’s stunning, scientifically accurate watercolors complement the text and provide an intriguing look at these huge creatures.(Amazon)

 

WIGGLE AND WAGGLE ACTIVITIES: Teachers' Tuesdays Educator Guide by Christine Van Zandt

Thanks so much to Christine Van Zandt for promoting my book Wiggle and Waggle and its wonderful activity guide on her Teacher Tuesday posts for this week. She has posted it on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. You can click on THIS LINK for the guide. 

To purchase a paperback copy of the book click HERE. 

FIVE NESTS ILLUSTRATION BY RUTH SANDERSON, On Display at the Free Library of Philadelphia

I was delighted to learn from my friend, librarian Carol Koneff, that an illustration by Ruth Sanderson for my very first published book, Five Nests, is on display in a special exhibit at the Free Library ofPhiladelphia. 

Carol saw the exhibit while visiting the library when she was in Philadelphia for the annual conference of the American Library Association. The exhibit, called Go Birds: Appreciating our Avian Friends, includes items from the library archives and will be up through August 30^th,  2025.

Ruth Sanderson’s illustration for my book depicts a rhea nest. (Rheas are large South American birds related to ostriches.) The rhea is an example of a bird species in which the male, or father bird, is the sole caretaker of the eggs and chicks. The illustration was donated to the library by Ruth.

A number of years ago I met Ruth for the first time at a children’s book conference. (We never met when Five Nests was published in 1980, which is not unusual.) After the conference Ruth sent me the original illustration for another page in the book that depicted Mexican Jays. In this species, multiple generations look after the young. In 2016, when I was in Philadelphia and learned that the library had a copy of Five Nests in their permanent archive, I donated that illustration to the library. I am pleased to learn that Ruth has donated other illustrations from the book as well.

Although Five Nests launched my career as a children’s book writer, it had a rocky start. It received a negative review in SLJ (unfairly, I thought) and as a consequence, many libraries, including my own, chose not to approve it for purchase. By the time Five Nests was named an Outstanding Science Trade Book by the NSTA/CBC the following year, it was too late. The book had already been remaindered. So I am especially pleased to see that it lives on at the Free Library of Philadelphia.

For more about Five Nests and the Free Library of Philadelphia:

My post on the 40th anniversary of the publication of Five Nests.

My post on the Philadelphia Free Library's Children's Literature Research Collection.

READ ABOUT SHARKS DURING SHARK WEEK and Beyond

IT'S SHARK WEEK!--the annual celebration of sharks on the Discovery Channel. What better time to read about sharks! You can find the e-books of my books WATCH OUT FOR SHARKS and GIANT SHARK on Amazon. You may also be able to find the hardback copies of the books in your library.

WATCH OUT FOR SHARKS: Based on a major international exhibit that traveled for five years in North America, this book depicts the fascinating world of sharks.

GIANT SHARK: MEGALODON, PREHISTORIC SUPER PREDATOR: For millions of years, a massive shark more than twice as huge as the modern-day great white shark cruised the depths of the ocean, attacking and devouring prey. Fossil remains reveal megalodon to have been more than fifty feet long, with razor-sharp teeth, each the size of a human hand, and jaws so large it could swallow prey larger than a common dolphin. Fluid, detailed watercolors accompany this clear and accessible account of one of the most incredible creatures to inhabit our world.